Abstract
Lung cancer is a common type of cancer. The aim of this study was to examine Health-Related Quality of Life (ΗRQOL) in lung cancer patients and the demographic/medical characteristics that are related to it. A cross-sectional study was conducted in “Sotiria” Chest Diseases Hospital, Greece, with a sample of 200 lung cancer patients. Patients completed a composite questionnaire including demographic/medical information, EORTC-QLQ-C30 and ΕΟRTC-QLQ-LC13. The duration of the study was 17 months (April 2014 to August 2015). SPSS v.25 was used for the analysis of data. Mean age was 68.5 years, 70.5% were men, 81% were married, 84% had Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC) and 16% had Small Cell Lung Cancer (SCLC). Patients evaluated their ΗRQOL as moderate (Μ = 51.71). The predominant symptoms were fatigue, pain, dyspnoea, insomnia, and appetite loss. Most of the symptoms were negatively correlated with the functional scales of EORTC-QLQ-C30. Better perceived health and ΗRQOL were related to the absence of recurrence and higher educational level. All functional scales were significantly affected by recurrence. Gender, income status, metastases, information about the diagnosis and months elapsed since diagnosis significantly affected only some functional scales. These results can be used to identify patients at high risk for having poor HRQOL and to improve their therapy plan. Future research is suggested, in order to further investigate and clarify the study’s results.
Highlights
Lung cancer is the most common type of cancer worldwide and the leading cause of cancer mortality in both sexes [1].There are two main histological types of lung cancer, non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC; approximately 85% - 90% of lung cancers) and small cell lung cancer (SCLC; about 10% - 15% of lung cancers), with the latter having worse prognosis and quality of life
Two of three patients diagnosed with lung cancer are over 65 years old and the average age at the time of diagnosis is about 70 years [2]
A cross-sectional study was conducted with a convenience sample of 200 lung cancer patients admitted to the Oncology Unit and the outpatient clinic of the 3rd Department of Athens University School of Medicine in “Sotiria” Chest Diseases Hospital, Athens, Greece
Summary
Lung cancer is the most common type of cancer worldwide (about 12.3% of all new cases—the same percentage as breast cancer) and the leading cause of cancer mortality in both sexes [1].There are two main histological types of lung cancer, non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC; approximately 85% - 90% of lung cancers) and small cell lung cancer (SCLC; about 10% - 15% of lung cancers), with the latter having worse prognosis and quality of life. Lung cancer is the most common type of cancer worldwide (about 12.3% of all new cases—the same percentage as breast cancer) and the leading cause of cancer mortality in both sexes [1]. Lungs are a common site for metastases from other organs (e.g. breast, colon, etc.). Lung cancer has one of the poorest prognoses of all human malignancies and its five-year survival rate is very low (18% in USA and 12.6% in Europe) [3]. This fact can influence patients’ responses to the diagnosis, with a decline in Health-Related Quality of Life (ΗRQOL) [4]
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