Incidence of Fatigue in Patients of Cancer of Head & Neck Region, Receiving Chemotherapy as well as Radiotherapy, and Its Effect on Quality of Life

2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (43) ◽  
pp. 2485-2491
Author(s):  
Simanta Kumar Behera ◽  
Sima Chauhan
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Cancer Patients ◽  
Neck Cancer ◽  
College Hospital ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Medical College ◽  
Severe Fatigue ◽  
Patient Reported ◽  
Moderate Fatigue

BACKGROUND Fatigue has been defined as a feeling of weakness subjectively, also expressed as extreme tiredness and energy loss due to illness or physical or mental exertion. Differences of quality of fatigue between healthy controls and cancer patients have been suggested. Moreover, these are due to heightened degree of expression of fatigue in cancer patients. We wanted to determine the prevalence of fatigue in patients suffering from head & neck cancer and receiving chemotherapy as well as radiotherapy and evaluate the fatigue related impact on quality of life. METHODS This is a cross sectional study done among patients of head & neck cancer, receiving chemotherapy and radiotherapy, in the Department of Oncology, Surgery and Pathology, K.D. Medical College Hospital & Research Center, Mathura, Uttar Pradesh. Department of Radiation Oncology, Grecian Superspeciality Hospital, Mohali. PG Department of Radiotherapy, Acharya Harihar Regional Cancer Centre, S.C.B. Medical College & Hospital, Cuttack. Duration of study is 2013 December 2014 November and 2019 March - 2020 July. Forty-one patients were studied. RESULTS Out of twenty-four patients who were treated with radiotherapy, nine patients had mild fatigue; fifteen patients had moderate fatigue; and no patient had severe fatigue. Among seventeen patients who received chemotherapy, fourteen patients reported mild fatigue, two reported moderate fatigue, and one patient reported severe fatigue. CONCLUSIONS Different anticancer therapies cause Cancer Related Fatigue (CRF); those could be chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Severity of fatigue was more in radiotherapy as compared to chemotherapy group. KEYWORDS Cancer, Chemotherapy, Radiotherapy, Fatigue, Quality of Life (QOL)

Quality of Life and Performance in Advanced Head and Neck Cancer Patients on Concomitant Chemoradiotherapy: A Prospective Examination

1999 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 1020-1020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcy A. List ◽  
Amy Siston ◽  
Daniel Haraf ◽  
Phil Schumm ◽  
Merrill Kies ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Head And Neck Cancer ◽  
Head And Neck ◽  
Cancer Patients ◽  
Neck Cancer ◽  
Performance Status ◽  
Functional Impairments ◽  
Concomitant Chemoradiotherapy ◽  
Patient Reported

PURPOSE: To prospectively evaluate performance and quality of life (QOL) in advanced-stage head and neck cancer (HNC) patients on a curative-intent, concomitant-chemoradiotherapy (CT/XRT) (twice-daily radiation, fluorouracil, hydroxyurea, and cisplatin) regimen aimed at improving locoregional control, survival, and QOL. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Sixty-four patients were assessed before, during, and at 3-month intervals after treatment. Standardized measures of QOL (Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy–Head and Neck), performance (Performance Status Scale for Head and Neck Cancer Patients and Karnofsky Performance Status Rating Scale), and patient-reported symptoms (McMaster University Head and Neck Radiotherapy Questionnaire) were administered. RESULTS: Acute treatment toxicities were severe, with declines in virtually all QOL and functional domains. Marked improvement was seen by 12 months; general functional and physical measures returned to baseline levels of good to excellent. Although up to a third of the patients continued to report problems with swallowing, hoarseness, and mouth pain, these difficulties were present in similar magnitudes before treatment. The following symptoms were more frequent at 12 months: dry mouth (58% v 17%), difficulties tasting (32% v 8%), and soft food diet (82% v 42%). Twelve-month diet was not related to pretreatment functioning, disease, treatment, or patient characteristics. Twelve-month QOL was best predicted by pretreatment QOL, with very little relationship to residual side effects or functional impairments. Small numbers of patients in four of the five disease sites precluded examination of outcome by site. CONCLUSION: These data support the feasibility of intense CT/XRT as primary treatment for advanced HNC. Results confirm acute toxicity but indicate that many of the treatment-related performance and QOL declines resolve by 12 months. The persistent inability to eat a full range of foods warrants further attention and monitoring.

Assessing the impact of chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting on patients’ quality of life: An Arabic version of the Functional Living Index-Emesis

2021 ◽  
pp. 107815522199844
Author(s):  
Abdullah M Alhammad ◽  
Nora Alkhudair ◽  
Rawan Alzaidi ◽  
Latifa S Almosabhi ◽  
Mohammad H Aljawadi
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Cancer Patients ◽  
Arabic Language ◽  
Nausea And Vomiting ◽  
Cancer Center ◽  
Arabic Version ◽  
Patient Reported ◽  
Arabic Speaking ◽  
The Impact

Introduction Chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting is a serious complication of cancer treatment that compromises patients’ quality of life and treatment adherence, which necessitates regular assessment. Therefore, there is a need to assess patient-reported nausea and vomiting using a validated scale among Arabic speaking cancer patient population. The objective of this study was to translate and validate the Functional Living Index-Emesis (FLIE) instrument in Arabic, a patient-reported outcome measure designed to assess the influence of chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting on patients’ quality of life. Methods Linguistic validation of an Arabic-language version was performed. The instrument was administered to cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy in a tertiary hospital's cancer center in Saudi Arabia. Results One-hundred cancer patients who received chemotherapy were enrolled. The participants’ mean age was 53.3 ± 14.9 years, and 50% were female. Half of the participants had a history of nausea and vomiting with previous chemotherapy. The Cronbach coefficient alpha for the FLIE was 0.9606 and 0.9736 for nausea and vomiting domains, respectively, which indicated an excellent reliability for the Arabic FLIE. The mean FLIE score was 110.9 ± 23.5, indicating no or minimal impact on daily life (NIDL). Conclusions The Arabic FLIE is a valid and reliable tool among the Arabic-speaking cancer population. Thus, the Arabic version of the FLIE will be a useful tool to assess the quality of life among Arabic speaking patients receiving chemotherapy. Additionally, the translated instrument will be a useful tool for future research studies to explore new antiemetic treatments among cancer patients.

scholarly journals Clinical evaluation of pulmonary hypertension using patient-reported outcomes: a cross-sectional study

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Miguel Ángel Amor-García ◽  
Sara Ibáñez-García ◽  
Xandra García-González ◽  
Teresa Mombiela ◽  
Cristina Villanueva-Bueno ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Pulmonary Hypertension ◽  
Clinical Evaluation ◽  
Patient Reported Outcomes ◽  
Specific Treatment ◽  
Tertiary Hospital ◽  
Functional Class ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Patient Reported

Abstract Background Patients with pulmonary hypertension (PH) have progressive and disabling symptoms, as well as a burden of treatments and a difficult clinical evaluation that make health-related quality of life a particularly relevant endpoint in this disease. The objective of the study was to evaluate patient-reported outcomes of patients receiving specific treatment for PH in a tertiary hospital using a specific questionnaire (Cambridge Pulmonary Hypertension Outcome Review-CAMPHOR) in the pharmacy consultation. Methods A cross-sectional, observational, descriptive study was conducted. It included all patients receiving specific treatment for PH in a tertiary hospital in Madrid, Spain. The inclusion period comprised between August to December 2019. CAMPHOR questionnaires containing three domains: symptoms, activities and quality of life were completed by the patients at the pharmacy consultation. Demographic and clinical variables, including WHO Functional Class (WHO FC), PH-specific tests and hemodynamic parameters, were recorded. Non-parametric analyses to assess relations between variables and CAMPHOR domains were performed. Results Thirty-six patients consented to participate in the study and completed the questionnaire. Median scores for symptoms, activities, and quality of life domains were 5.5 (2.5–10), 8.0 (4.5–10.5) and 3.5 (1–7.5), respectively. Statistically significant differences were found in the three domains when comparing by WHO FC, in the activities domain for 6-m walking test and in the quality of life domain for patients who had emergency visits or hospitalizations in the last year. Conclusions The CAMPHOR questionnaire could be useful as a complementary test to achieve an integrated evaluation of PH patients, who could complete it easily during their routine pharmacy visits.

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