Patient characteristics influencing quality of life in gynecologic cancer
6132 Background: The Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy general (FACT) questionnaire was developed to assess disease and treatment specific issues affecting patients’ quality of life (QoL). Factors other than cancer and its treatment, such as age, general physical and emotional health, and socio-economic status, may have significant effects on QoL and patients’ response to treatments. This study examined the effect of these variables on the domains of the FACT in gynecologic oncology patients undergoing surgery for pelvic mass suspected to be malignant or endometrial cancer. Methods: Demographic information and patient characteristics were obtained pre-operatively. Patients also completed the FACT and the SF-36, a general health questionnaire that measures physical and mental well-being but is not designed to be sensitive to the detection of small treatment effects. Correlation and multiple regression analysis were used to assess the effect of diagnosis, age, body mass index (BMI), educational level, marital status, smoking status, physical (PCS) and mental (MCS) summary scores of the SF-36 on FACT domain scores. Results: Data were collected on 157 women at their pre-operative visit (endometrial cancer, n=45; benign masses, n=79; ovarian cancer, n=33). PCS, MCS and age were positively correlated with scores on the FACT, while BMI and smoking were negatively correlated ( Table ). Educational level was negatively correlated with scores on the social domain but positively correlated with physical scores on the FACT. PCS and MCS accounted for a significant amount of the variance (R2) in regression models for each of the FACT domains ( Table ). Conclusion: Patients’ QoL, as measured by a questionnaire that is sensitive to their disease and treatment, is affected by their baseline characteristics. As treatment options become more complex, these variables are likely to be of increasing importance in evaluating QoL. [Table: see text] No significant financial relationships to disclose.