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Changes in patients’ quality of life during radiotherapy and 1 month after treatment

  • 07.01.2019
  • original report
Erschienen in:

Summary

Background

The EORTC QLQ-C30 quality of life (QOL) questionnaire is designed to measure cancer patients’ physical, psychological, and social functions. There are few reports on the impact of radiotherapy (RT) on QOL; thus, we investigated QOL changes during the RT period and 1 month after RT.

Methods

We scored EORTC QLQ-C30 (version 3.0) questionnaires from 66 patients. The questionnaire contained 30 items, including 1 item on financial concerns, a global health domain, 5 functional domains, 3 symptom domains, and 5 single-symptom items. Assessments were performed before RT, at the end of the day after RT, and 1 month after RT. Correlations between the patients’ characteristics (e.g., age, sex, organ, RT response) and QOL change were evaluated.

Results

No specific patient characteristic significantly correlated with a QOL change during RT. In 15 QLQ-C30 items, those items in which the change in score achieved statistical significance (P < 0.05) were the following: physical function was improved from the end of RT to 1 month after RT; role function worsened from the end of RT to 1 month after RT; and emotional function worsened from the start of RT to 1 month after RT.

Conclusions

The QOL was poorest at the end of RT. If treatment was completed, physical function improved, but role function and emotional function worsened just 1 month after treatment. For role and emotional function, observation by medical staff is necessary.
Titel
Changes in patients’ quality of life during radiotherapy and 1 month after treatment
Verfasst von
Osamu Tanaka, M.D.
Yuka Kunishima, N.S.
Takuya Taniguchi, M.P.
Kousei Ono, M.P.
Masayuki Matsuo, M.D.
Publikationsdatum
07.01.2019
Verlag
Springer Vienna
Erschienen in
memo - Magazine of European Medical Oncology / Ausgabe 1/2019
Print ISSN: 1865-5041
Elektronische ISSN: 1865-5076
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s12254-018-0469-y
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