scholarly journals Quality of Life of People with Cancer in the Era of the COVID-19 Pandemic in India: A Systematic Review

2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 280-286
Author(s):  
Kusum K. Rohilla ◽  
C Vasantha Kalyani ◽  
Sweety Gupta ◽  
Amit Gupta ◽  
Manoj Gupta
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Systematic Review ◽  
Cancer Treatment ◽  
Cancer Patients ◽  
Health Workers ◽  
Care Delivery ◽  
Research Articles ◽  
Extensive Literature ◽  
Research Issues

Background: The recent pandemic of COVID-19 caused havoc on the health system globally and raised a lot of questions and issues. Treatment for cancer is an emergency that cannot be taken back, particularly in an era of global pandemics. Cancer treatment mainly includes chemotherapy, surgery, radiotherapy, and palliative care, and because of the pandemic, all of these treatments are affected. The COVID-19 pandemic also had a potential effect on the quality of life and mental health of patients as well as health workers. Objective: This systematic review was intended to discuss the quality of life of people with cancer in the era of the COVID-19 pandemic in India in the light of the best available facts. Methods: An extensive literature search was done on PubMed, Medline, Embase, Clinical Key and Google Scholar databases till 3rd Feb 2021. Out of 1455 research articles, 06 research articles were included in this systematic review. Results: The results showed that cancer treatment delivery was as per standard safety protocol and the best treatment decisions were made by scheduling and setting priority. Till data, no direct research was conducted on the Indian continent to assess the quality of life of cancer patients in the COVID-19 era. The effect on the quality of life of cancer patients is very large and needs to be explored more by further research. Issues to be discussed with health care administrators and policy makers further. The tele-oncology method of cancer care delivery to patients is another rational option which is applicable as well. Conclusion: This systematic review demonstrated up-to-date evidence regarding the quality of life of cancer patients in the COVID-19 era in India. No research has been done to assess the quality of life of cancer patients. Still, the area is unrevealed, but evidence from other global studies indicates an altered quality of life for cancer patients. To maintain quality of life, cancer physicians should make evidence-based decisions and incorporate multidisciplinary management into decision making.

scholarly journals Patients’ Communication Preferences Around Cancer Symptom Reporting During Cancer Treatment: A Phenomenological Study

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sharyn Carrasco, PhD, RN
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Health Care ◽  
Cancer Treatment ◽  
Cancer Patients ◽  
Symptom Management ◽  
Phenomenological Study ◽  
Symptom Reporting ◽  
Communication Preferences ◽  
Health Care Practitioners

Background: The purpose of this descriptive phenomenological study was to gain an in-depth understanding of cancer patients’ experiences and perspectives on self-reporting their symptoms. Patients with cancer experience a wide variety of symptoms from both their disease and treatment, yet clinicians are often unaware of their patients’ symptoms due to poor reporting methods. Poorly documented symptoms are more likely to go untreated, causing increased symptom distress and decreased quality of life for patients. Effective, real-time communication between patients and health-care practitioners is key to symptom assessment and management. Moreover, it is important for patients’ communication preferences to be taken into account when developing symptom management plans. Methods: This qualitative study focused on the symptom reporting experiences of 13 adults in the United States with advanced or metastatic cancer who were undergoing systemic cancer treatment. Data were collected via interviews. Results: The findings revealed that a personalized symptom management plan, prompt reporting, and timely communication with health-care practitioners improved patients’ physical and emotional wellbeing. Conclusions: A better understanding of cancer patients’ experiences self-reporting their symptoms may lead to improved communication methods and more effective reporting systems, which ultimately reduce patient burden and enhance patients’ self-advocacy. Ensuring that patients’ preferences for reporting their symptoms are met may positively influence the likelihood and timeliness of symptom self-reporting. Developing new and improved ways for health-care teams to manage symptoms is vital to improving patients’ quality of life.

Factors affecting health-related quality of life among prostate cancer patients: A systematic review

2020 ◽  
Vol 26 (8) ◽  
pp. 1997-2010
Author(s):  
Sharon Odeo ◽  
Amsalu Degu
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Prostate Cancer ◽  
Systematic Review ◽  
Sexual Function ◽  
Cancer Patients ◽  
Clinical Stage ◽  
Treatment Modalities ◽  
Functional Score ◽  
Incidence And Mortality

Introduction Prostate cancer is recognized as the leading cause of malignancy-related incidence and mortality in the male population. The treatment regimens have long-term effects detrimental to the patient's quality of life. Hence, this review was aimed to determine the overall HRQOL and its associated among prostate cancer patients. Methods The review was performed according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. The databases searched were PubMed, Embase, Google Scholar and Cumulative Index to the Nursing and Allied Literature (CINAHL), which provided articles that were critically examined, yielding 52 studies that met the inclusion criteria for the systematic review. Results Out of 52 studies, 30 studies reported poor overall HRQOL in various domains after prostate cancer treatment. Contrastingly, 15 studies reported good overall quality of life after treatment. Among the various domains, sexual function was the most grossly affected functional score by the treatment modalities of prostate cancer. Nonetheless, seven studies showed that the absence of a significant change in the overall quality of life after treatment. According to the studies, older age, comorbidities, higher clinical stage, higher Gleason score, greater cancer severity, African American race, impaired mental health, neoadjuvant hormonal therapy and lower level of education were the major poor predictors of HRQOL among prostate cancer patients. Conclusion The overall HRQOL in prostate cancer patients was generally poor in various functional domains after treatment. Among the various domains, sexual function was the most grossly affected functional score by the treatment modalities of prostate cancer.

The effect of scalp cooling on CIA-related quality of life in breast cancer patients: a systematic review

2019 ◽  
Vol 175 (2) ◽  
pp. 267-276 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dustin H. Marks ◽  
Jean-Phillip Okhovat ◽  
Dina Hagigeorges ◽  
Athena J. Manatis-Lornell ◽  
Steven J. Isakoff ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Breast Cancer ◽  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Systematic Review ◽  
Cancer Patients ◽  
Scalp Cooling ◽  
Breast Cancer Patients ◽  
Related Quality

scholarly journals Plasma in Cancer Treatment

Cancers ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (9) ◽  
pp. 2617
Author(s):  
Angela Privat-Maldonado ◽  
Annemie Bogaerts
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Treatment Outcome ◽  
Cancer Treatment ◽  
Cancer Patients ◽  
Cause Of Death ◽  
Resistance To Treatment ◽  
Development Of Resistance ◽  
Current Therapies ◽  
As Toxicity

Cancer is the second leading cause of death worldwide, and while science has advanced significantly to improve the treatment outcome and quality of life in cancer patients, there are still many issues with the current therapies, such as toxicity and the development of resistance to treatment [...]

USE OF PATIENT ASSESSED HEALTH-RELATED QUALITY OF LIFE INSTRUMENTS IN PROSTATE CANCER RESEARCH: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE 2002–15

2016 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
pp. 97-106 ◽  
Author(s):  
Saku Torvinen ◽  
Susanne Bergius ◽  
Risto Roine ◽  
Leena Lodenius ◽  
Harri Sintonen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Prostate Cancer ◽  
Systematic Review ◽  
Cancer Patients ◽  
Disease Stage ◽  
Health Related Quality ◽  
Valuation Method ◽  
Related Quality ◽  
Health Related

Objectives: The objectives of this study were to identify and qualitatively describe, in a systematic literature review, published studies that collected prostate cancer patients’ health-related quality of life (HRQoL) estimates by using validated, generic instruments.Methods: Systematic searches of the literature were made using the Medline, Cochrane Library, PsycINFO, and CINAHL electronic databases from 2002 to 2015.Results: The search identified 2,171 references, of which 237 were obtained for full-text assessment; thirty-three of these articles were deemed relevant and included in the systematic review. An indirect valuation method was used in 73 percent (n = 24) of the studies. The most commonly used HRQoL instrument with an indirect valuation method was the EuroQol (EQ-5D; n = 21), and the second most common was the 15D (n = 5). A direct valuation method was used in 48 percent (n = 16) of the studies. Of these, the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) was the most often used (n = 10), followed by the Time-Trade-Off (n = 6). HRQoL scores varied in localized and early stage disease between 0.63 and 0.91, and in advanced or metastatic disease stage between 0.50 and 0.87. There was also variance in the HRQoL instruments and study methods used, which explains the large variance in HRQoL scores between the various disease stages.Conclusions: Although utility and quality-adjusted life-years gained are considered important measures of effectiveness in health care, the number of studies in which utilities of prostate cancer patients have been estimated using generic HRQoL instruments, based on either direct or indirect measurement of HRQoL, is fairly small.

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