Medknow Publications on behalf of the Association of Radiation Oncologists of India (AROI)
Abstract
Background: Quality of Life (QOL) measures have now become a vital part
of health outcome appraisal and an effective way of capturing the
personal and social context of patients. Aim: To assess the QOL of
cancer patients by using a validated questionnaire. Settings and
Design: A prospective study in the medical oncology clinic of a
tertiary care hospital of South India. Materials and Methods: Patients
receiving chemotherapy for different types of cancer were subjected to
a validated questionnaire and their responses to the factors of the
questionnaire were scored and analyzed. A Chi-square test was performed
to assess the effect of age and type of cancer on the QOL of patients.
Pearson′s correlation was done to assess the factors that had
greater influence on the QOL. Results: A total of 32 (15 males; 17
females) patients were included and majority were in the age range of
61-80 years. Eleven types of cancer were identified. About 56% of the
patients were assessed to have average QOL and 28% had below average
QOL, 9% had above average, and 2 (6.25%) had significantly high QOL.
The overall mean QOL score of the study population was 122.38 ±
13.86. Factors 1 (psychological well-being), 2 (self-adequacy), 3
(physical wellbeing), 4 (confidence in self-ability), 6 (pain), 7
(mobility), and 8 (optimism and belief) had significant influence on
the QOL, while factors 5 (external support), 9 (interpersonal
relationship), and 10 (self-sufficiency and independence) did not have
a significant effect on QOL. Age (P=0.396) and type of cancer (P=0.371)
did not have a significant effect on the QOL. Conclusion: The study
showed that 80% of the total study population reported to have average
and below average QOL, suggesting that an increasing importance is
given to the incorporation of Quality of Life as an outcome, in
addition to other clinical endpoints
