Quality of life

2016 ◽  
pp. 302-311 ◽  
Author(s):  
Neil K. Aaronson ◽  
Peter M. Fayers

This chapter provides an introduction to the assessment of the quality of life (QoL) of cancer patients. It considers how QoL is defined and how it can be measured using either generic or cancer-specific QoL questionnaires (e.g., the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer QLQ-C30, Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy General Questionnaire, and the Edmonton Symptom Assessment Scale (ESAS) in palliative care). Also described briefly is the use of computer adaptive testing (CAT)). Examples are provided of how QoL can be assessed in the context of clinical oncology research (both observational and evaluative QoL studies) and how QoL assessment can be integrated into daily clinical oncology practice. Special attention is paid to the ways in which QoL data can be interpreted and to establishing the clinical significance of QoL results. Finally, the chapter outlines some of the future directions for QoL research in the oncology setting.

2019 ◽  
Vol 37 (15_suppl) ◽  
pp. e23120-e23120
Author(s):  
Daphne Ruth Friedman ◽  
Vikas Patil ◽  
Kelli Marie Rasmussen ◽  
Brian C Sauer ◽  
Michael J. Kelley ◽  
...  

e23120 Background: Cancer patients experience symptoms which may precede diagnosis, occur during therapy, and persist into survivorship. Symptom assessments and patient reported outcomes have been shown to improve quality of life and extend survival in cancer patients. The Veterans Administration Symptom Assessment Scale (VSAS) is a clinical tool to document cancer-related symptoms. Here, we report VSAS adoption in five Veterans Health Administration (VHA) hematology-oncology sites during a five-year period. Methods: Data was collected from the Corporate Data Warehouse (CDW): VSAS data, date of birth, gender, race, ethnicity, vital status, year of cancer diagnosis, ICD-O-3, VHA facility, and clinic stop codes. Descriptive analyses of patient demographics, disease characteristics, and VSAS utilization was performed. VSAS is comprised of 13 symptoms, rated on a 0 to 10 scale. A VSAS visit was defined as the date the VSAS was administered to a patient. Results: From January 2013 through June 2018, there were 41,917 instances of VSAS administered to 9,409 unique patients at five VHA facilities: 8,512 (90.5%) were male; 5,241 (56%) were non-Hispanic White, 3,743 (40%) were Black, and 297 (3%) were other racial categories or not available. The median age at the first VSAS visit was 67 years. In patients whose oncologic diagnosis was recorded by a cancer registrar (4,536), the most common diagnoses were prostate cancer, lung cancer (all histologies), colon cancer, and multiple myeloma. The number of VSAS administrations increased annually, from 866 in 2013 to 12,775 in 2017, which may be attributed to increased adoption of VSAS across and within VHA facilities. Individual patients completed the VSAS 1-57 times (median 2). At the five VHA facilities utilizing VSAS in 2017, VSAS was administered at 56% of hematology-oncology clinic visits. Conclusions: VSAS is a tool to measure and document patient symptom burden, and has been successfully adopted in the last five years at select VHA facilities. Expanded use of VSAS throughout the VHA is an important step in improving the quality of life and extending survival of veterans with cancer and blood disorders.


2007 ◽  
Vol 44 (2) ◽  
pp. 168-177 ◽  
Author(s):  
Giedre Ingrid das Neves Pereira ◽  
Carlos Dario da Silva Costa ◽  
Luciana Geocze ◽  
Aldenis Albaneze Borim ◽  
Rozana Mesquita Ciconelli ◽  
...  

INTRODUÇÃO: Estudos têm demonstrado ser a doença do refluxo gastroesofágico capaz de alterar a qualidade de vida e a produtividade no trabalho dos doentes por ela acometidos. Instrumentos para esse tipo de avaliação são provenientes, em sua maioria, de países de língua inglesa e/ou francesa. A utilização desses instrumentos em nosso meio demanda criterioso processo de tradução e validação. OBJETIVOS: Traduzir para língua portuguesa os questionários GERD-HRQL (Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease - Health Related Quality of Life), HBQOL (Heartburn Specific Quality of Life Instrument) e GSAS (Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease Symptom Assessment Scale) específicos para avaliação de qualidade de vida na doença do refluxo gastroesofágico. Testar suas propriedades psicométricas de confiabilidade e validade. MÉTODOS: Cento e trinta e dois pacientes com doença do refluxo gastroesofágico (idade média 54,9 anos, ± DP 13,9) atendidos no ambulatório de motilidade digestiva da Universidade Federal de São Paulo, SP, e de gastrocirurgia da Faculdade de Medicina de São José do Rio Preto, SP, aceitaram participar do presente estudo, fornecendo termo de consentimento pós-esclarecimento. Destes, 40 pacientes participaram da fase de pré-teste (28 do sexo feminino e 12 do sexo masculino, com idade média de 55,3 anos, ± DP 14,7) e 92 da fase de validação (64 do sexo feminino e 28 sexo masculino, com idade média 54,7 anos e ± DP 13,7). A tradução e adaptação cultural foi realizada de acordo com o método de GUILLEMIN et al., sendo a validação dos questionários traduzidos (GERD-HRQL, HBQOL e GSAS) realizada em relação aos instrumentos genérico SF-36 e sintomático ESDRGE (SQGERD). RESULTADOS: A adaptação cultural implicou na troca de quatro palavras no GERD-HRQL, seis no HBQOL e nove no GSAS. Posteriormente a esta fase, o questionário GSAS foi abandonado por problemas no cálculo do escore, sendo as propriedades de medidas testadas nos dois questionários remanescentes, esses se mostraram reprodutíveis para uso inter e intra-observador com valores de 0,980 e 0,968, respectivamente, para o GERD-HRQL, e valores que variaram de 0,868 a 0,972, respectivamente, para o HBQOL. O questionário HBQOL demonstrou alta consistência interna (>0,70) para três das quatro dimensões avaliadas (aspecto físico, dor, sono). Os resultados encontrados na fase de validação apresentaram bons níveis de correlação com os questionários SF-36 e ESDRGE (SQGERD). CONCLUSÕES: As versões para a língua portuguesa (Brasil) dos instrumentos GERD-HRQL e HBQOL, adaptadas ao padrão cultural brasileiro, configuram-se em opções válidas, confiáveis, com baixo nível de desgaste do paciente e de fácil aplicação para avaliação de qualidade de vida na DRGE em nosso meio. O instrumento HBQOL é a única opção de avaliação multidimensional de qualidade de vida atualmente disponível para uso no Brasil. A versão em português do instrumento GSAS mostrou-se inadequada para avaliação de qualidade de vida na DRGE em nosso meio.


2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. IJE21
Author(s):  
Bianka Saravana-Bawan ◽  
Stella Koumna ◽  
Marguerite Wieler ◽  
Alexander McEwan ◽  
Todd McMullen

Aim: This study assesses if clinically developed quality of life (QoL) tools are as effective in small bowel neuroendocrine tumors (NETs) as NET-specific research questionnaires. Methods: QoL in patients with small bowel NETs treated with Lu-DOTA-TATE was assessed with The European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) QLQ-C30, QLQ-GI.NET21 and Edmonton Symptom Assessment System Revised (ESAS-r) at baseline and after four treatments. Repeated measures ANOVA was performed. Results: Both EORTC and ESAS-r demonstrated maintained overall QoL. EORTC demonstrated statistically and clinically significant improvement in insomnia, diarrhea, gastrointestinal, endocrine symptoms and social function. ESAS-r demonstrated statistically and clinically significant improvement in overall total symptom distress score. Conclusion: ESAS-r is quick and easy to interpret. It is not as sensitive to individual symptoms but does track overall function. EORTC assessment is more complex, but better reflects QoL for NET specific symptoms.


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