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Background: Cervical cancer is one of many health care ironies. Better survival rates demand better quality of life (QoL). The aim of present study was to determine the change in QoL of cervical cancer patients due to treatment.Methods: An observational prospective study was conducted from July 2017 to June 2018 among 80 new cervical cancer patients without any prior history of treatment for cervical cancer, attending radiotherapy department of a tertiary care centre of West Bengal using a semi-structured schedule and European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) quality of life questionnaire (QLQ). Information was collected on socio-demographic and clinical aspects and QoL domains. Those with history of surgery for cervical cancer, advanced stage of disease were excluded. EORTC QLQ was administered at baseline and one month after completion of treatment. Data was analysed by percentage, means±standard deviation, range and Wilcoxon signed rank test etc. using SPSS-16.Results: Only 60 patients could be analysed as 10 patients died and 10 lost to follow-up. After treatment there was a significant improvement in global health, physical, emotional and cognitive functioning as well as decrease in symptoms like fatigue, pain, insomnia, appetite loss and constipation along with worsening of financial difficulties. There was significant improvement in body image, decrease in problems of symptom experience, peripheral neuropathy and menopausal symptoms after treatment.Conclusions: The cervical cancer patients show an overall improvement in their QoL in most of the domains after one month of treatment except worsening of financial difficulties.
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@#Prostate cancer is forth most common diagnosed tumors in Malaysian male. The use of a self-reported, quality of life assessment is important for clinical practice, care taker and researcher to evaluate the level of quality of life. The aim of this study was to measure the internal consistency of the translated Malay Language EORTC QLQ-C30 and EORTC PR-25 questionnaires among prostate cancer patient at National University of Malaysia hospital in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Methods This was a cross sectional study conducted between July 2017 and Dec 2017. The respondent comprised of 110 Malaysian prostate cancer patients who were under follow up at Urology and Oncology Clinic. Sets of translated Malay language EORTC QLQ C30 and EORTC PR-25 consisted of functional, symptom and global health status domains were administered to assess their quality of life. Results The translated questionnaires were acceptable by 110 respondents. Cronbach`s α coefficient result were 0.913 (EORTC QLQ-C30) and 0.829 (EORTC PR25) respectively suggested that this instrument had good internal consistency. Conclusions Our study confirmed that translated Malay language EORTC QLQ-C30 and QLQ-PR25 questionnaires are acceptable, reliable and valid instrument to be used among Malaysian prostate cancer patients.
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Objective@#This study aims to determine the convergent and discriminant validity and internal consistent reliability of the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire Core 30 (EORTC QLQ-C30) Tagalog among adult Filipinos with differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC).@*Methodology@#104 adult Filipinos with DTC at various disease stages self-administered the EORTC QLQ-C30 version 3 Tagalog and Short Form-36 (SF-36) version 2 Tagalog. Concurrent validity between conceptually-related scales from both tools was determined. Convergent and discriminant validity of multi-item scales of the EORTC QLQ-C30 Tagalog were assessed by Spearman’s correlation. Cronbach's α was computed.@*Results@#The EORTC QLQ-C30 Tagalog showed moderate correlation with similar scales in the SF-36 Tagalog particulary for physical, role and social functioning, pain, and global health (r=0.42-0.48, p<0.001). It showed satisfactory item-domain convergent and discriminant validity for all scales except pain, fatigue, physical and cognitive functioning. Internal consistent reliability was good with cronbachs α ranging from 0.77 to 0.88 for global health, emotional and role functioning and symptom scale of nausea/vomiting.@*Conclusion@#The EORTC QLQ-C30 Tagalog had acceptable convergent and discriminant validity and internal consistent reliability for the scales of global health, role, social and emotional functioning and nausea/vomiting when applied among adult Filipinos with DTC.
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Thyroid Neoplasms , Quality of Life , Validation StudyABSTRACT
<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>The primary aim of the study was to compare two nutritional status evaluation tools: the Patient-Generated Subjective Global Assessment (PG-SGA) and Nutritional Risk Screening (NRS-2002). Using the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Core Questionnaire 30 (EORTC QLQ-C30), the second aim was to provide constructive advice regarding the quality of life of patients with malignancy.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>This study enrolled 312 oncology patients and assessed their nutritional status and quality of life using the PG-SGA, NRS-2002, and EORTC QLQ-C30.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The data indicate that 6% of the cancer patients were well nourished. The SGA-A had a higher sensitivity (93.73%) but a poorer specificity (2.30%) than the NRS-2002 (69.30% and 25.00%, respectively) after comparison with albumin. There was a low negative correlation and a high similarity between the PG-SGA and NRS-2002 for evaluating nutritional status, and there was a significant difference in the median PG-SGA scores for each of the SGA classifications (P < 0.001). The SGA-C group showed the highest PG-SGA scores and lowest body mass index. The majority of the target population received 2 points for each item in our 11-item questionnaire from the EORTC QLQ-C30.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The data indicate that the PG-SGA is more useful and suitable for evaluating nutritional status than the NRS-2002. Additionally, early nutrition monitoring can prevent malnutrition and improve the quality of life of cancer patients.</p>
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Introduction: Malnutrition among cancer patients is associated with a higher risk of gastrointestinal toxicity which develops during treatment and may affect quality of life (QOL). Thus, this cross-sectional study aimed to determine the nutritional status and QOL of 30 oncology patients (mean age 50.0+10.7 years) prior to pelvic radiotherapy at Hospital Sultan Ismail, Johor Bahru. Methods: Patients were assessed for anthropometry measurements, 24-h diet recall and nutritional status using Scored Patient-Generated Subjective Global Assessment (PG-SGA) questionnaire while the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Care Quality of Life Questionnaire (EORTC QLQ-C30) was used to assess QOL two weeks prior to the initiation of pelvic radiotherapy. Results: Mean Body Mass Index (BMI) of patients was 23.3+3.3kg/m2 and 33% of patients experienced weight loss prior to pelvic radiotherapy. The PG-SGA rating indicated that 63% of patients were at Stage A (well-nourished) and 37% were in Stage B (moderate malnutrition). The PG-SGA numerical score was a significant predictor of QOL, after adjusting for socio-demographic factors (R2=0.861, p<0.05). Conclusion: In general, the low nutritional status of the patients indicates the need for early nutritional assessment, education and intervention in ensuring optimal nutritional status throughout the pelvic radiotherapy treatment.
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Aims: To assess the Quality of Life (QOL) among female breast cancer patients in a university hospital in Malaysia. Study Design: The study was designed as a cross-sectional study. Place and Duration of Study: The study was conducted at the Surgery and Oncology Clinic in University Kebangsaan Malaysia Medical Centre (UKMMC) between 22nd May 2014 and 27th June 2014. Methodology: A total of 133 female breast cancer patients were selected by universal sampling, out of which 117 patients responded. The QOL was measured both by the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire C30 (EORTC QLQ-C30) and breast cancer specific supplementary module (QLQ-BR23). Results: The global health status/QOL mean score was 67.81 (SD±18.92). Mean age of the respondent was 54 years (SD±18.39). Nearly half of the Malay breast cancer patients (45.6%) diagnosed at the stage of III & IV. In the functional scales, the highest mean score was observed for cognitive functioning 83.19 (SD±22.26); whereas emotional functioning had the lowest mean score 62.96 (SD±26.39). The respondents were satisfied with their body image with a mean score of 81.34 (SD±24.26) but greatly affected by sexual functioning with a mean score of 31.48 (SD±26.96). Most prevalent general symptoms reported in this study were fatigue, insomnia, pain, appetite loss and financial difficulties; and most prevalent breast cancer specific symptom was found upset by hair loss. Conclusion: Specific measures should be taken for the routine breast cancer screening, awareness and education programmes to promote early detection and diagnosis of the breast cancer. The planned rehabilitation protocol should be addressed by health care professionals to further improve the QOL among breast cancer patients.
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BACKGROUND: The study examined the correlations among the results of the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC)-Quality of Life Questionnaire, Core 30 (QLQ-C30) completed by elderly cancer patients and their family caregivers and the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG)-performance status (PS) evaluated by medical doctors. METHODS: The study sample included 269 persons with cancer aged 55 years or older and their family caregivers recruited from hospitals located in Seoul and Gyeonggi-do. The results of the ECOG-PS evaluated by medical doctors were obtained from medical records. Intra-class correlation analysis was used to assess rater reliability between the elderly cancer patients and their family caregivers. Correlations among the EORTC QLQ-C30 and the ECOG-PS were tested using the Kruskal-Wallis test and Spearmen's correlation. RESULTS: The results showed that four subscales of quality of life (physical functioning, emotional functioning, social functioning, and global health status) and three items under symptoms (fatigue, pain, and financial difficulties) in the EORTC QLQ-C30 were highly consistent between patients and their family caregivers. From the EORTC QLQ-C30 results, social functioning, role functioning, health status, fatigue, pain, and appetite loss (patients results) and physical functioning (family caregivers results) were highly consistent with the results of the ECOG-PS by the physicians. CONCLUSIONS: The findings suggest that when the older persons with cancer have difficulty expressing their own thoughts or feelings, the EORTC QLQ-C30 completed by their family caregivers and the results of the ECOG-PS completed by the physicians could be used as substitutes.
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Aged , Humans , Appetite , Caregivers , Fatigue , Medical Records , Medical Staff , Quality of Life , SeoulABSTRACT
Background and purpose: Most of the patients with esophageal cancers were late stage cases when diagnosed clinically. Since the prognosis is very poor, it is extremely important to improve the quality of life (QOL) of these patients. Concurrent chemoradiotherapy is an effective modality for esophageal cancer. However, effects on quality of life of chemoradiotherapy are rarely reported domestically. Our purpose was to assess the immediate effect on the quality of life in patients with primary esophageal carcinoma. Methods: QOL was assessed by the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire (EORTC QLQ-C30) Chinese edition. Fifty-two patients were randomized to receive either concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CRT) or late course accelerated hyperfractionated radiotherapy (LAHF). QOL questionnaires were given before therapy and at the 4th week during radiotherapy, the completion of radiotherapy, and then after 1 and 3 months after the completion of radiotherapy, respectively. Results: It has been observed that the scores of global health status, physical functioning,role functioning and social functioning during the radiotherapy and from completion of radiotherapy to 1 month post radiotherapy in CRT and LAHF groups, deteriorated temporarily, but it were not significant when compared with those before radiotherapy (P>0.05). However, global health status scores, physical functioning scores, role functioning scores were significantly improved in patients who received CRT at 3 months post radiotherapy. Mean scores were improved by 12.0±3.7 (P=0.012),8.1±2.9 (P=0.023) and 14.8±5.2 (P=0.015), respectively. Nausea and vomiting, pain and appetite loss scales scores rapidly recovered to the baseline level after therapy, although they were worsened during therapy.Conclusion: Global health status scores, physical functioning scores and role functioning scores were significantly improved at 3 months after radiotherapy in patients treated by CRT. In terms of QOL, CRT is a feasible modality for esophageal cancer.