Quality of life of cervical cancer survivors and its association with clinical and pathological factors

Abstract

Abstract Background and aim : Material and methods: Findings : Mean age of participants was 57.85 with standard deviation 11.02. Mean age of participants’ at the time of diagnosis was 54.83 with standard deviation of 11.33. Quality of life scores for these patients was 46.98 with standard deviation of 7.60 , which is considered a moderate level of quality of life. Scores of physical functioning ,emotional ,and social functioning sub scales were 25±9.61 -53.8±14.53 and 61.34±18.33 respectively.Therer was a significant association between quality of life scores and socioeconomic status .A significant association was also found between quality of life scores and duration of time from diagnosis and treatment completion. Conclusion: Findings of this study showed that quality of life of cervical cancer survivals was affected by cancer. Improving physical function and recovery form symptoms may improve quality of life of these patients. Key words : Quality of life. Cervical cancer. Cancer survivors A descriptive correlational design was used. 65 cervical cancer survivors who had completed their treatment during the time period from 2001 to 2008 participated in the study. Data were collected by two questionnaires:” European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire –Cervix 24 “ and “ European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire- Core30-Version 3”. Medical records were reviewed for pathologic and clinical features of these patients. Validity of these questionnaires was assured by content validity. Questionnaires were completed by phone interview with the patients. Reliability of these questionnaires was obtained by computing internal consistency (Cronbach alpha) and test re test. Data were analyzed by SPSS 17. Cervical cancer is one of the most common cancers of women in developing countries. Disease and its treatments affect different aspects of patients’ life. The aim of the present study was to assess the quality of life among long term cervical cancer survivors and its association with clinical and pathological features in patients attended to cancer centers in Shahid Beheshti university of medical sciences,Tehran,Iran.