Table 1. Sociodemographic factors and clinical data and the association with lymphoedema diagnosed by water displacement volumetry.
| Variable | Category | N | % | Lymphoedema | p-value | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Positive N (%) |
Negative N (%) |
|||||
| Education | Illiterate | 13 | 2.8 | 2 (18.2) | 9 (81.8) | 0.456 |
| Incomplete elementary school | 178 | 38.5 | 28 (22.8) | 95 (77.2) | ||
| Completed first degree | 80 | 17.3 | 28 (23.1) | 93 (76.9) | ||
| High school | 114 | 24.7 | 11 (13.3) | 72 (86.7) | ||
| Higher education | 77 | 16.7 | 24 (19.8) | 97 (80.2) | ||
| BMI | Underweight (<18.5) | 6 | 1.3 | 0 (0) | 6 (100) | 0.001 |
| Normal (18.5–24.9) | 125 | 27.3 | 14 (11.25) | 111 (88.8) | ||
| Overweight (25–29.9) | 174 | 38.0 | 32 (18.4) | 142 (81.6) | ||
| Obese | 153 | 33.4 | 47 (30.7) | 106 (69.3) | ||
| Limb at risk | Right | 231 | 50 | 54 (23.5) | 176 (76.5) | 0.104 |
| Left | 231 | 50 | 39 (17) | 190 (83) | ||
| Dominant limb | Right | 441 | 96.1 | 87 (19.7) | 354 (80.3) | 0.225 |
| Left | 18 | 3.9 | 6 (33.3) | 12 (66.7) | ||
| Histology | DCIS | 25 | 5.7 | 4 (16) | 21 (84) | 0.444 |
| Invasive ductal carcinoma | 392 | 89.5 | 77 (19.6) | 315 (80.4) | ||
| Invasive lobular carcinoma | 17 | 3.9 | 4 (23.5) | 13 (76.5) | ||
| Other | 4 | 0.9 | 2 (50) | 2 (50) | ||
| Type of breast | Quadrantectomy | 373 | 81.3 | 73 (19.6) | 300 (80.4) | 0.520* |
| surgery | Radical or modified mastectomy | 62 | 13.5 | 14 (22.6) | 48 (77.4) | |
| Skin or nipple-sparing mastectomy | 11 | 2.4 | 3 (27.3) | 8 (72.7) | ||
| Simple mastectomy | 9 | 1.9 | 1 (11.1) | 8 (88.9) | ||
| Other | 4 | 0.9 | 2 (50) | 2 (50) | ||
| Armpit surgery | SLN biopsy | 106 | 23.1 | 4 (3.8) | 102 (96.2) | <0.001 |
| SLN biopsy + lymphadenectomy | 88 | 19.2 | 20 (22.7) | 68 (77.3) | ||
| Lymphadenectomy | 265 | 57.7 | 69 (26) | 196 (74) | ||
| Boost radiotherapy | Performed | 309 | 67.6 | 25 (16.9) | 123 (83.1) | 0.217 |
| Not performed | 148 | 32.4 | 68 (22) | 241 (78) | ||
| Supraclavicular radiotherapy | Performed | 172 | 37.6 | 48 (16.8) | 237 (83.2) | 0.022 |
| Not performed | 285 | 62.4 | 45 (26.2) | 127 (73.8) | ||
BMI = Body mass index; DCIS = ductal carcinoma in situ; SLN = sentinel lymph node
*
For this analysis, the SLN biopsy + lymphadenectomy groups were grouped with the lymphadenectomy alone group