Abstract
BackgroundThe aim of the study was to assess health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in outpatients receiving anti-cancer treatment.MethodsObservational, cross-sectional, single-center study that assessed HRQOL in cancer patients receiving antineoplastic treatment.ResultsA total of 184 patients were included in the study; the median total FACT-G score was 66 ± 12.9; the scores for the physical well-being, social/family well-being, emotional well-being and functional well-being domains were 17.8 + 4.8, 19.1 ± 4.4, 14.8 ± 3.8 and 14.3 ± 4.7 respectively. Patients with adverse events had poorer HRQOL compared to those without them (FACT-G score 62.2 vs. 67.3; p < 0.05). In the multivariate analysis the variables associated with poorer HRQOL in the form of a gradient were tumor stage and performance status (ECOG); female sex was also associated with poorer HRQOL.ConclusionIn our study, the neoplastic disease and anti-cancer treatment toxicities had an impact on HRQOL. Patients had poorer scores in the functional well-being domain and higher ones in the social/family well-being domain. Variables associated with worse HRQOL were tumor stage, performance status (ECOG) and female sex.
Highlights
The aim of the study was to assess health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in outpatients receiving anticancer treatment
184 patients were included in the study: 103 (56%) women and 81 (44%) men; mean age was 60.5 + 11.8 and the most frequent tumors were gastrointestinal cancer (38%) followed by breast (25.5%) and lung (15.8%) cancer; 103 (56%) patients received targeted therapy and 81 (44%) conventional chemotherapy
The majority of patients presented with tumor stage IV (77.7%) and most of the patients included in our study were symptomatic but completely ambulatory (77.2%); 126 (68.4%) patients had previous medical conditions (hypertension, diabetes or dyslipemia (72.2%), depression and anxiety (13.4%), hypothyroidism (11.2%), others (3.2%))
Summary
The aim of the study was to assess health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in outpatients receiving anticancer treatment. Health-related quality of life (HRQOL) encompasses the subjective perceptions of the positive and negative aspects of disease, including physical, emotional, social and cognitive functions and, in particular, disease symptoms and treatment side effects. The information captured by a PRO instrument can provide first-hand evidence of the benefit or detriment of health status from the patient’s perspective and helps to identify specific issues that may modify treatment decisions and provide guidance for determining an appropriate and personalized care [4,5,6]. Recognition of HRQOL issues in specific domains of FACT-G that are not consistently examined in routine care helps to improve patient satisfaction, increase survival rates, reduce hospitalizations, and decrease costs to the healthcare system [7,8,9]
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