Abstract
BackgroundQuality of life (QOL) issues are of interest in cancer because effective methods of treatment and detection have led to an increase in the number of long-term survivors. The objectives of the study were: to assess the subjective QOL of stable Sudanese women cancer outpatients and their family caregivers, using the WHO 26-item QOL Instrument; compare with matched general population groups, as well as diabetic and psychiatric patient groups; examine patient-caregiver concordance in ratings; and assess the variables associated with their QOL, with a view to identifying factors that can enhance quality of care.MethodsResponses of oncology outpatients with breast cancer (117), cervical cancer (46) and ovarian cancer (18) (aged 44.6, SD 11.5) were compared with those of their family caregivers and matched general population groups. Data were analyzed by univariate and multivariate statistics.ResultsThe cancer groups had similar QOL domain scores, which were significantly lower than those of their caregivers, but higher than the control group as well as those of psychiatric and diabetic patients studied previously. Patients who were married, with higher education, better employment, and with longer duration of illness had higher QOL. Patients on radiotherapy and their caregivers had higher QOL scores. Correlations between patient's ratings and caregiver impression of patient's QOL were high. Caregiver impression was a significant predictor of patient's and caregiver's QOL. Other predictors for the patient were: currently feeling sick and duration of illness; for the caregiver: feeling sick, relationship to patient, and age.ConclusionCancer patients in stable condition and with psychosocial support can hope to enjoy good QOL with treatment. The findings constitute an evidence base for the country's cancer care program, to boost national health education about prognosis in cancer. Families living with women cancer patients are vulnerable and need support if the patient is recently diagnosed, less educated, single, not formally employed; and the caregiver is female, parent, younger, less educated, unemployed and feels sick. Clinicians need to invest in the education and support of family caregivers. The patient-caregiver dyad should be regarded as a unit for treatment in cancer care.
Highlights
Quality of life (QOL) issues are of interest in oncology because effective modern methods of treatment and detection have led to an increase in the number of longterm survivors [1,2]
Our findings have added to the body of evidence that cancer patients in stable condition and with evident psychosocial support can hope to enjoy good QOL in the long term, if they remain in treatment
The vulnerable groups that our analysis delineated indicate the characteristics of patients and family caregivers that the clinical team needs to pay particular attention to, in order to enhance the quality of care
Summary
Quality of life (QOL) issues are of interest in cancer because effective methods of treatment and detection have led to an increase in the number of long-term survivors. The issues of concern include, the impact of cancer on the QOL of the patient and family caregiver [7,8,9,10,11,12], the relationship with socio-demographic variables [13,14,15], side effects of treatment [16,17,18,19], and how patient-caregiver characteristics interact to affect the QOL of the patient-caregiver dyad [20,21,22,23,24,25]. The findings for the association of socio-demographic characteristics (especially age and education) with QOL are conflicting [6,9,13,15,38]
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