Abstract
The outbreak of coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) ineluctably caused social distancing and unemployment, which may bring additional health risks for patients with cancer. To investigate the association of the pandemic-related impacts with the health-related quality of life (HRQoL) among patients with melanoma during the COVID-19 pandemic, we conducted a cross-sectional study among Chinese patients with melanoma. A self-administered online questionnaire was distributed to melanoma patients through social media. Demographic and clinical data, and pandemic-related impacts (unemployment and income loss) were collected. HRQoL was determined by the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-General (FACT-G) and its disease-specific module (the melanoma subscale, MS). A total of 135 patients with melanoma completed the study. The mean age of the patients was 55.8 ± 14.2 years, 48.1% (65/135) were male, and 17.04% (34/135) were unemployed since the epidemic. Unemployment of the patients and their family members and income loss were significantly associated with a lower FACT-G score, while the MS score was associated with the unemployment of the patients' family members. Our findings suggested that unemployment is associated with impaired HRQoL in melanoma patients during the COVID-19 epidemic.
Highlights
The outbreak and pandemic of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) brought profound impacts on the entire society and the individual’s life
We investigated the pandemic-related impacts on the health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in melanoma patients through an online survey
The impaired HRQoL of melanoma was associated with the unemployment of the patients and their family members, as well as income loss
Summary
The outbreak and pandemic of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) brought profound impacts on the entire society and the individual’s life. The lockdown resulted in income loss and unemployment in some people. The 5-years survival rate can be low as 5% for advanced melanoma [1], and the median overall survival time is about 8 months [2] Such poor survival outcomes result in heavy mental stress and impaired quality. One-third of patients with melanoma reported psychological distress to some extents, and symptoms of anxiety was more prevalent than depression [3] Neoadjuvant therapy such as checkpoint therapy and target therapy has been rapidly developed in recent years, and significantly benefited melanoma patients. We investigated the association of unemployment, income loss and other epidemic-related impacts with the health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in melanoma patients in China, based on an online questionnaire survey
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