Factors affecting quality of life in cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy

MS Heydarnejad, DA Hassanpour, DK Solati

Abstract

Background: Cancer can produce many different symptoms, some subtle and some not at all subtle. An increasingly important issue in oncology is to evaluate quality of life (QoL) in cancer patients. The cancer-specific QoL is related to all stages of this disease.

Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the QoL in cancer patients with solid tumors and at the different chemotherapy cycles (CT).

Methods: This was a cross-sectional study. A total of 200 cancer patients were included. With some modification, the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer QoL Questionnaire (EORTC QLQ-C30) was used to measure QoL in the patients. The QoL in most subjects (66%) was fairly favorable.

Results: A significant relationship between the cancer type, pain intensity, and fatigue was found. However, none of the demographic variables (age, education, marital status, income) were significantly related to QoL. Nevertheless, significant difference was found between the level of QoL in patients with < 2 CT cycles and/or with 3-5 cycles (p< 0.001).

Conclusion: Cancer is an important health issue influencing QoL. An appropriate treatment which may provide care to the cancer patients is CT. A CT cycle may improve QoL in patients with solid tumors.