Abstract
BackgroundCancer of the cervix is the most frequent cancer among women in Ethiopia. The disease burden and its treatment adversely affects patients’ health-related quality of life (HRQoL). We aimed to investigate the HRQoL and its predictors among cervical cancer patients in Ethiopia.MethodsA hospital-based cross-sectional study was conducted from January to June 2018 at the oncology unit of Tikur Anbessa Specialized Hospital, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. A total of 404 cervical cancer patients were interviewed using validated Amharic version of the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer module (EORTC QLQ-C30), cervical cancer module (EORTC QLQ-CX24), and Euro Quality of Life Group’s 5-Domain Questionnaires 5-Levels (EQ-5D) questionnaires. ANOVA test was used to determine the effect of patients’ characteristics on mean scores of the different domains of HRQoL and stepwise multivariable logistic regression was performed to identify predictors of HRQoL. Coefficients of level-specific utility values obtained from a hybrid regression model for the Ethiopian general population were used to compute utility.ResultsThe mean age of patients was 52.1 ± 10.4 years and 379 (93.8%) of the patients were receiving service at the outpatient clinic. About one-third (35%) of patients were diagnosed with stage IV cervical cancer. Mean global health status/QoL, mean utility and visual analog scale scores were 48.3 ± 23.77, 0.77 and 65.7 ± 20.83, respectively. Physical functioning (AOR = 4.98, 95% CI:2.16–11.49), emotional functioning (AOR = 5.25, 95% CI:2.26–12.17), pain (AOR = 5.79, 95% CI:2.30–14.57), and symptom experience (AOR = 4.58, 95% CI:1.95–10.79) were associated with patients’ HRQoL.ConclusionsCervical cancer significantly affects patient’s HRQoL and hence, efforts to improve HRQoL should be commenced especially in terms of physical and emotional functioning, pain, and symptom experience.
Highlights
Cervical cancer is the fourth most common cancer worldwide that affecting women with estimated incidence and mortality of 56,9847 and 31,1365, respectively, which accounts for 6.6% of all female cancers [1]
The high burden of cervical cancer in LMICs is largely because the majority of cases are detected in advanced stages which in turn was ascribed to the low screening rate as a result of lack of access to health care facilities [2]
Despite the government effort to promote screening for early diagnosis of cervical cancer, patients were diagnosed at advanced stages, leading to long periods of illness, loss of productivity and premature deaths [1]
Summary
Cervical cancer is the fourth most common cancer worldwide that affecting women with estimated incidence and mortality of 56,9847 and 31,1365, respectively, which accounts for 6.6% of all female cancers [1]. Araya et al Health and Quality of Life Outcomes (2020) 18:72 income countries (LMICs) is high where nearly 90% of cervical cancer deaths are from these countries [1, 2]. The high burden of cervical cancer in LMICs is largely because the majority of cases are detected in advanced stages which in turn was ascribed to the low screening rate as a result of lack of access to health care facilities [2]. Cervical cancer is the second leading cancer among women cancer in Ethiopia. The disease burden and its treatment adversely affects patients’ health-related quality of life (HRQoL). We aimed to investigate the HRQoL and its predictors among cervical cancer patients in Ethiopia
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