Abstract
Survivors of haematological malignancies endure long-term effects of both treatment and disease. This paper examines factors that influence their quality of life through reporting on the results of a survey. Survey using previously validated quality of life questionnaires for use in cancer management. Participants were adults aged 18 and over who had completed treatment for a haematological malignancy and were between 1 and 5years post-treatment. A total of 131 participants, median age of 66, completed questionnaires (66% response rate). Significant associations were found between age, global quality of life, physical and role functioning. Men reported better physical functioning and lower symptom scores than women. Employed participants reported better quality of life. Increasing age was associated with lowest quality of life. Best role functioning was also noted in participants who lived beyond 2.5years following treatment completion. The survey suggested a gender difference with men reporting better physical functioning, fewer symptoms of pain and less loss of sleep compared with women. This study contributes to the underdeveloped area of care for and research into adult haematological cancer survivors. Knowledge and understanding of the factors that affect the quality of life of such adults may provide an insight into implementation measures.
Highlights
There has been a steady increase in survival rates of all patients with cancer in the UK when compared with the United States and Europe with 50% of patients surviving for ten years and beyond (CancerResearch UK, 2014)
B‐cell malignancies such as chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL), lymphoma and multiple myeloma (MM) are some of the most common haematological malignancies, and this study focused on pa‐ tients who were treated for these conditions
In 2011, the numbers of new cases registered in the UK were 12,783 with non‐Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL), 1,845 with Hodgkin's lymphoma (HL), 3,233 with CLL and 4,792 with MM (Office for National Statistics [ONS], 2015)
Summary
There has been a steady increase in survival rates of all patients with cancer in the UK when compared with the United States and Europe with 50% of patients surviving for ten years and beyond Treatment‐related toxicities such as acute confusion and some‐ times metabolic disturbances have been reported (Hallek et al, 2010; Hassan & Abdi‐Valugerdi, 2014) Those who survive adverse effects of treatment and go on to experience prolonged remission, often continue to live with decreased functioning and reduced QoL (Efficace, Novik, Vignetti, Mandelli, & Cleeland, 2007), because they continue to deal with the daily challenges of living with the late‐ and long‐term adverse effects of treatment and fear of disease recur‐ rence. Issues that affect phys‐ ical, social or emotional functioning, thereby having an impact on the QoL of patients during this phase, are mostly addressed and dealt with (Lobb et al, 2009) It is following completion of treatment when patients feel the lack of such support measures in place (Lobb et al, 2009) as they move into long‐term follow‐up in an outpatient setting and lose interaction with the healthcare providers.
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