Health-related Quality of Life Among Cervical Cancer Patients at Kenyatta National Hospital
Abstract Background: A previous systematic review showed that health-related quality of life (HRQoL) was adversely affected during treatment of cervical cancer, with a worsening global score. However, there was a lack of data in the study setting. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the HRQoL of cervical cancer patients at Kenyatta National Hospital.Methods: A cross-sectional design of the study was employed among cervical cancer patients. All eligible cervical cancer patients during the study period were included in the study. Hence, a consecutive sample of 103 cervical cancer patients was involved in the study. Following consent, study participants were interviewed using The European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality-of-Life Questionnaire 30 (EORTC QLQ-30) and Cervical Cancer Module CX24 (EORTC QLQ-CX24). The clinical characteristics and treatment regimens were collected by reviewing the medical records. Interpretation and linear transformation of the raw score of health-related quality of life were conducted as per EORTC QLQ 30 and EORTC QLQ-CX24 Scoring Manual. The data were entered and analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 20.0 software. Frequency tables mean, percentage, and figures were used to represent the data. Univariate and multivariate binary logistic regression analysis was employed to investigate the associated factors of health-related quality of life. A p-value of ≤ 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: The mean age of the participant population was found to be 55.8 ± 5.6 years. Most of the study participants had stage III cervical cancer (56.3%) and without comorbidities (65%). The mean score of the global health status was 41.99. The physical functioning, cognitive functioning, and financial difficulties mean scores were 71.6, 73.3, and 93.5, respectively. Under the symptom scale, nausea and vomiting, pain, and appetite loss had mean scores of 70.1, 67.2, and 66.0, respectively. The overall quality of life data showed 69% of study participants had poor quality of life while 31% of study participants had good quality of life. Patients with early-stage disease (stage I and II) were 7.3 times (AOR = 7.3, 95% CI = 2.4 – 21.7, p = 0.000) more likely to have a good quality of life than patients with advanced-stage disease. Patients with no comorbidities were 3.1 times (COR = 3.1, 95% CI = 1.1 – 9.1, p = 0.037) more likely to have a good quality of life than patients with comorbidities.Conclusions: The overall health-related quality of life among cervical cancer patients was poor in the study setting. Advanced stage of disease and presence of comorbidities were the significant predictors of poor quality of life.