Upper-body morbidity following breast cancer treatment is common, may persist longer-term and adversely influences quality of life

Table 2 Proportion of women whose upper-body function declined, showed no change or improved between six- and 18-months post-surgery*

	Change in upper-body function from six- to 18-months post-surgery
	Declined		No change = 0	Improved		Total
	n (%)	Median Change (Min, Max)	n (%)	n (%)	Median Change (Min, Max)	n (%)
Objective measures
UBSE (kg)	41 (22.8)	-0.5 (-1.0, -0.25)	60 (32.9)	82 (44.3)	+0.5 (0.25, 2.5)	183 (100.0)
HG Strength (kg)	76 (41.6)	-3.1 (-14.0, -0.5)	10 (5.7)	99 (52.7)	+4.0 (0.5, 15.0)	185 (100.0)
Flexibility^† (degrees)	35 (17.7)	-10.0 (-45.0,-3.0)	39 (20.1)	119 (62.1)	+10.0 (5.0, 40.0)	193 (100.0)
Self-reported measures
DASH score	76 (33.8)	+4.2 (0.6, 48.3)	22 (9.7)	134 (56.6)	-5.0 (-43.3, -0.7)	232 (100.0)

Abbreviations: UBSE, upper-body strength and endurance; HG, hand grip; DASH, Disability of the Arm Shoulder and Hand questionnaire (0-100 scale, lower score = better function).
* Results have been appropriately weighted (< 50 years:1.0; > 50 years:1.3) for oversampling of younger women.
^† Flexibility relates to flexion of the shoulder.

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