Health-related quality of life in Swedish pediatric burn patients and associations with burn and family characteristics

Although many children with burns recover well and have a satisfying quality of life after the burn, some children do not adjust as well. Health-related quality of life (HRQoL) focuses on the impact health status has on quality of life. The aim of this study was to assess HRQoL with the American Burn Association/Shriners Hospitals for Children Burn Outcomes Questionnaire (BOQ) in a nationwide Swedish sample of children with burns 0.3–9.0 years after injury. Participants were parents (n = 109) of children aged up to 18 years at the time of investigation who were treated at the Linköping or Uppsala Burn Center between 2000 and 2008. The majority of children did not have limitations in physical function and they did not seem to experience much pain. However, there were indications of psychosocial problems. Parents of preschool children reported most problems with the children's behavior and family disruption, whereas parents of children aged 5–18 years reported most problems with appearance and emotional health. There were mainly burn-related variables associated with suboptimal HRQoL in children aged 5–18 years, while family-related variables did not contribute as much.     

Health-related quality of life in trauma patients who sustained a calcaneal fracture

BackgroundCalcaneal fractures are known to cause a considerable long-term disability; disability influences the public health negatively in terms of personal suffering and monetary losses. Health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in general is influenced by various patient-specific factors, and possibly trauma and fracture characteristics. Previous studies might have underestimated the impact of this injury because of several injury and patient specific exclusion criteria. In this study we provide an overview of the patient characteristics and outcome of patients with a calcaneal fracture in a Dutch level I trauma population.MethodsWe have performed a retrospective cohort study in a trauma level 1 centre. All patients who sustained a calcaneal fracture and were 16 years or older at time of admission were included. We have retrieved the relevant patient and fracture characteristics from the medical status and evaluated current health status with a questionnaire. We have used the EQ-6D for quantification of the HRQoL. Moreover, the patient's capability to work was evaluated.Results125 patients with 151 calcaneal fractures were identified of which 93 patients with 114 calcaneal fractures participated in this study. The median EQ-5D index value is 0.78. All dimensions of the EQ-6D are affected in particular the dimensions ‘mobility’, ‘pain/discomfort’ and ‘usual activity’. 85% is capable to work. Female patients or patients with a relevant comorbidity or a psychiatric history have a significantly lower HRQoL score. In this study population no difference in HRQoL results was demonstrated among different socio-economic status, associated injuries, or severity of injury.ConclusionsThis study demonstrates that patients who sustained a calcaneal fracture have a significantly lower HRQoL than the Dutch reference population and suffer from a chronic disability. Moreover, patients that have a comorbidity, a relevant psychiatric history or are female have significantly lower HRQoL scores. Furthermore, this study shows that socio-economic status, associated injuries, or severity of injury did not influence the HRQoL in this study population.Level of evidencePrognostic level II.     

Predictors of health status and health-related quality of life 12 months after severe burn

Introduction

Sustaining a moderate to severe burn injury is associated with the potential for substantial impairments to long-term physical and psychosocial health, including health related quality of life (HRQoL). The objective of this study was to identify clinical and patient characteristics which predict HRQoL 12-months after injury.

Methods

A total of 125 patients were recruited over the study period, although only 99 were included in the final analysis representing all those who completed both the pre-burn and 12-months after burn injury Short Form 36 Medical Outcomes Survey (SF-36v2). These patients also completed the Burn Specific Health Scale-Brief (BSHS-B). Patient demographics and burn injury characteristics and treatment factors were collected to identify which factors predict 12-month health status outcomes. Multiple linear regression analyses were conducted to identify important predictors of outcomes. The SF36v2 models were adjusted for pre-injury measurements.

Results

Older age (regression coefficient −0.26, 95% confidence interval (95% CI) −0.38, −0.13), female gender (−8.08, 95% CI −12.8, −3.34) and increased percentage of full-thickness burns per body surface area (−0.51; 95% CI −0.88, −0.13) were important predictors of poorer physical health status at 12 months. Older age (−0.15, 95% CI −0.26, −0.04) and increased percentage of full-thickness burns per body surface area (−0.36, 95% CI −0.69, −0.03) were important predictors of poorer mental health status at 12 months. Older age (−0.38; 95%CI −0.66, −0.11) and female gender (−12.17; 95% CI −22.76, −1.57) were important predictors of poorer BSHS-B total score at 12 months after injury.

Conclusions

Given the complexity of burn care rehabilitation, physical and psychosocial screening and assessment within the first weeks after a burn injury along with adequate monitoring after discharge should be undertaken in burn injured patients. In this context, patients of specific demographics, such as female patients and older patients, and patients with a higher percentage of full thickness surface area burns are of greater risk for poorer physical and psychological outcomes and may benefit from additional monitoring and rehabilitation.     

Health-related quality of life in patients undergoing lithotripsy for urinary stones

Objectives The objective of this study was to analyze the health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in patients undergoing lithotripsy for urinary stones. Materials and methods This study comprised 76 patients with urinary stones who were treated by lithotripsy, which included shock wave lithotripsy (SWL), ureteroscopic lithotripsy, percutaneous nephrolithotripsy and ureterolithotomy in 66 patients, 25 patients, six patients and three patients, respectively. During the observation period of this series, 37 patients received additional lithotripsy for recurrent urinary stones. HRQoL was evaluated using the Short Form-36 (SF-36) survey assessing eight aspects associated with general health status. Results There were no significant differences in any scale scores between the 76 patients with urinary stones and age- and gender-matched Japanese norms. Bodily pain (BP) in 37 patients undergoing lithotripsy twice or more appeared to be significantly lower than that in 39 undergoing lithotripsy only once; however, there were no significant differences in the remaining seven scores according to the number of courses of lithotripsy. Furthermore, 47 patients treated by SWL alone had a significantly higher score for general health perception (GH) than 29 who underwent lithotripsy by methods other than SWL, while there were no significant differences in the remaining seven scores between these two groups. Conclusions In general, patients undergoing lithotripsy for urinary stones may have a comparatively favorable HRQoL; however, BP and GH were impaired in patients undergoing lithotripsy twice or more and those treated by invasive modalities, respectively. Considering these findings, it would be important to prevent recurrent stone formation and to develop less invasive procedures to further improve HRQoL in patients undergoing lithotripsy for urinary stones.     

Health-related quality of life in patients with Achilles tendinopathy: Comparison to the general population of the United Kingdom

BackgroundThere is little evidence available regarding the impact of Achilles Tendinopathy (AT) on health-related quality of life (HRQOL). The primary aim of this study was to quantify the clinical and health-related quality-of-life patient-reported outcome measures for a population presenting with either mid-substance or insertional Achilles tendinopathy.MethodsA prospective comparative observational study of consecutive patients with AT presenting for extracorporeal shockwave therapy (ESWT) at a large teaching hospital. The primary outcome was assessment of a validated health-related quality of life PROMs (Euroqol EQ-5D-5L) and comparison to 2 general UK population datasets. The secondary outcomes were Visual Analogue Pain Scale (VAS-Pain) and two validated foot-specific patient reported outcome measures (Foot Function Index (FFI) and Victorian Institute of Sports Assessment-Achilles (VISA-A)).ResultsBetween March 2014 and June 2021, 320 consecutive patients (125 male; 195 female) were diagnosed with AT and referred for a first course of ESWT. EQ-5D-5L PROMs were prospectively collected for 303 of these patients (94.7%). The mean age (± standard deviation(SD)) was 52.1 ± 11.4 years. The mean EQ-5D-5L Index score (mean±SD) for the AT cohort was 0.783 ± 0.131. Patients less than 55 years with AT had a statistically significantly worse quality of life compared with members of the same age group in the general population. The mean VAS-Pain, FFI, VISA-A clinical outcome scores were 6.0 ± 2.3, 49.5 ± 21.2 and 34.1 ± 14.4 respectively. There was a statistically significant moderate correlation between HRQOL and clinical PROMs (VAS-Pain and FFI vs EQ-5D) however there was no correlation with age.ConclusionThis study demonstrates that patients under the age of 55 with AT have a significantly reduced quality of life compared with the general population.Level of evidenceIII     

Health-related quality of life after osteoporotic fractures

Objective: To estimate the impact of osteoporosis fractures on health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in postmenopausal women. Methods: To compare the impact on HRQOL of different osteoporotic fractures, 600 consecutive women 55–75 years old with a new fracture (inclusion fracture) were invited by mail. After exclusions by preset criteria (high-energy fractures, ongoing osteoporosis treatment, or unwillingness to participate), 303 women were included, 171 (56%) of whom had a forearm, 37 (12%) proximal humerus, 40 (13%) hip, and 55 (18%) vertebral fracture, respectively, and all were investigated and treated according to the current local consensus program for osteoporosis. In addition, HRQOL was evaluated by the SF-36 questionnaire and compared with local, age-matched reference material. Examinations were performed 82 days (median) after the fracture and 2 years later. Results: HRQOL was significantly reduced at baseline regarding all SF-36 domains after vertebral fractures and most after hip fractures, but only regarding some domains after forearm and humerus fracture. After 2 years, improvements had occurred after all types of fractures, and after forearm or humerus fracture, HRQOL was completely normalized in all domains. However, 2 years after hip fracture, HRQOL was still below normal regarding physical function, role-physical and social function, while after vertebral fracture, scores were still significantly lower for all domains, physical as well as mental. Patients with one or more previous fractures before the inclusion fracture had lower HRQOL at baseline and after 2 years, compared with those with no previous fracture. Patients with osteoporosis (T-score <–2.5 in hip or spine) had lower HRQOL than those with normal BMD. Conclusion: Vertebral and hip fractures have a considerably greater and more prolonged impact on HRQOL than forearm and humerus fractures. The number of fractures was inversely correlated to HRQOL. These differences should be taken into account when making priorities in health care programs.     

Early and late-recorded predictors of health-related quality of life of burn patients on long-term follow-up

BackgroundUnintentional and intentional burn injuries vary across age groups, gender, income, and global region. In high-income countries, the trend over the last several years has been a reduction in burn incidence, burn severity, length of hospital stay, and mortality rate. However, there is a lack of data on predictors of the health-related quality of life (HRQoL) of major burn survivors extending beyond a follow-up period of 10 years.Patients and methodsThis single-center cross-sectional study is considering 42 long-term severe burn survivors with deep partial thickness burns and an affected total body surface area (TBSA) of ≥20%. For study eligibility design a minimum follow-up of 10 years was obligatory. Entitled individuals were asked to fill in the generic Short Form 36 (SF-36) questionnaire. The physical (PCS) and mental (MCS) component scores of the SF-36 were used as the primary outcome variables. Putative predictor variables were drawn from medical records. Burn-specific functionality and scar tissue quality were assessed using the Burn Specific Health Scale-Brief (BSHS-B) questionnaire and the Patient and Observer Scar Assessment Scale (POSAS), respectively. Correlation between putative predictor variables and SF-36 norm scores were evaluated by Pearson- and Point-Biserial correlation as well as multivariate linear regression. The SF-36 norm scores were compared to the general German population.ResultsMean follow-up was 14 (±3) years with a minimum and maximum of 10 and 28 years, respectively. Mean age at the time of the incident was 37 (±17) years. The majority of individuals were male (74%). The mean burn size was 39 (±17) % (TBSA) with 76% of the individuals showing a full thickness burn.SF-36 norm scores were not statistically different from the general population. Statistically significant independent predictor variables of the physical summary score were: age at the time of the injury (−0.381), time since injury (−0.466), length of hospital stay (−0.356), limb amputation (−0.318), unemployment (−0.433), work (0.593), hand function (0.601), body image (0.518), affect (0.355), simple abilities (0.602), burns involving the hands (−0.339) and back (−0.343), POSAS patient- (−0.521) and observer scores (−0.483). In multivariate analysis, work (4.315), the POSAS Score (−2.082) and the age at the time of the incident (−0.242) were statistically significant predictors. Statistically significant independent predictor variables of the mental summary score were: duration of mechanical ventilation (−0.459), hand function (0.415), body image (0.502), sexual activity (0.625), social support (0.542), burns involving the back (−0.315) and affect (0.692). In multivariate analysis, affect (13.844) and the length of mechanical ventilation (−0.115) were statistically significant independent predictor variables.ConclusionTen years after the burn incident, the quality of life was on average comparable to the one in the general population. Multiple variables seem to influence the physical and mental long-term outcome. Herein presented data may support in adapting and designing follow-up strategies tailored to a patient’s burn-specific circumstances.     

Health-related quality of life in children with flexible flatfeet: a cross-sectional study

Purpose

The effect of paediatric flexible flatfeet (PFF) on health-related quality of life (HRQOL) has not been investigated. In this prospective cross-sectional study, the HRQOL of children with PFF was compared to those with typically developing feet (TDF) using two validated measures. We hypothesised that reduced HRQOL would be observed in children with PFF. The reliability of parents’ perceptions of their child’s symptoms was also investigated.

Methods

48 children with PFF and 47 with TDF between the ages of 8 and 15 completed The Oxford Ankle Foot Questionnaire for Children (OxAFQ-C) and Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory (PedsQL™ 4.0). Proxy questionnaires were also completed. Reliability of parent and child questionnaire scores was assessed using the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) and Student’s t test. Differences between HRQOL between PFF and TDF were assessed using the Student’s t test.

Results

ICCs overall demonstrated good reliability between parent and child questionnaire domain scores. There was a tendency for parents to overestimate the impairment of the child in the PFF group. PFF children demonstrated clinically significant decreased HRQOL than TDF children. This was most marked in the physical domain scores.

Conclusion

Although parents may overestimate their child’s impairment, children with PFF still have significantly impaired HRQOL when compared to TDF children. The impairment can be as severe, or worse, than published HRQOL for acutely and chronically unwell children. As such, PFF cannot be regarded as just a benign normal variant. The management of PFF should involve consideration of the symptom profile and HRQOL.

Level of evidence:

II.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s11832-014-0621-0) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

Health-related quality of life measurements in the assessment of pain clinic results

Following the World Health Organization (WHO) classification of impairment, disability and subjective quality of life, chronic pain disorder has been examined. In this overview impairment has been restricted to non-malignant pain. Disability has been subdivided into disorder-oriented and ailment-oriented symptoms. The disorder-oriented symptoms are pain and depression, the latter emphasizing that pain is an unpleasant sensation. Both pain and depression are essentially subjectively reported symptoms which are unidimensionel, implying that they often are measured by use of visual analog scales. However, the Major Depression Inventory (MDI) and the Symptom Checklist 90 (SCL-90) are appropriate questionnaires itemizing the respective dimensions. The ailment-oriented symptoms have negative social well-being as their core-symptoms, including reduced role-functioning. The Short-Form (SF-36) is an appropriate scale in this respect. Subjective quality of life is essentially measuring positive well-being and the most appropriate measurement instrument is the Psychological Well-Being Schedule (PGWB) or its subscales, among which is the WHO (Five) well-being index.     

Health-related quality of life following vertical banded gastroplasty

Background  Morbid obesity is associated with increased risks of morbidity and mortality as well as poor quality of life (QoL). Therefore, the goal of bariatric surgery should not only be reducing weight and treatment of comorbid conditions, but also improving QoL. Moreover, enhanced QoL may motivate patients to adhere to adequate health behavior in order to maintain the surgically established weight loss. Methods  We evaluated early postoperative health-related quality of life (HRQoL) over time. Preoperatively as well as 6, 12, and 24 months after vertical banded gastroplasty (VBG), 107 patients were psychologically assessed using a semistructured interview and the RAND 36-item Health Survey (RAND-36). Results  Over time, we found significant changes in weight: 2 years after surgery, excess weight loss (EWL) was 58.4%. HRQoL showed significant improvements over time, especially in the physical domains. Two years after surgery, 74% of patients were satisfied with the results of the operation and 94.1% would opt for surgery again. Conclusions  VBG not only leads to considerable weight loss, but also to significant improvements in HRQoL. However, some of the initially reported improvements lessened over time and not all patients appeared to profit in the same way.     

腹腔镜直肠癌切除术后生活质量评价

目的评价腹腔镜直肠癌切除术后生活质量情况。方法对我院45例直肠癌切除手术患者进行前瞻性研究,其中腹腔镜手术组23例,传统开腹手术组22例,分别在手术前、术后1个月、6个月和12个月回访填写QLQ-CR38评分量表,比较两组患者的生活质量变化。结果两组患者基本资料和术前评分具有可比性,差异无统计学意义;两组患者在胃肠道症状、化疗副反应、排便问题和造口相关问题评分差异无统计学意义(P0.05),术后1个月腹腔镜组在身体形象、未来期望和体重减轻评分具有优势(P0.05),术后6个月和12个月评分差距缩小。结论腹腔镜直肠癌手术在术后短期生活质量改善具有优势,值得推广。     

Health-related quality of life among elderly Americans diagnosed with upper tract urothelial carcinoma

Background

Health-related quality of life (HRQOL) among elderly Americans diagnosed with upper tract urothelial cancer (UTUC) is unknown. We compared HRQOL in patients from before and after UTUC diagnosis and among different tumor stages after UTUC diagnosis using the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results-Medicare Health Outcomes Survey database.

Health-related quality of life after upper extremity injuries and predictors for suboptimal outcome

PurposeThe purpose of this study was to examine the impact of upper extremity injuries (UEIs) on health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in adult patients compared with victims of other types of injuries and with the general population, in order to establish recovery patterns of different types of UEIs and determine predictors for suboptimal outcome in the long term.MethodsData were obtained from the Dutch Injury Surveillance System, from the National Hospital Discharge Registry, and from a patient follow-up survey. A total of 608 patients (aged ≥18 years) with an UEI were included. The main outcome measure was HRQoL measured at 2.5, 5, 9 and 24 months after UEI according to the EuroQol-5D (EQ-5D). The predictors for the suboptimal outcome were examined by multivariate linear regression analyses.ResultsFor non-hospitalized UEI patients, a substantial loss in HRQoL was observed after 2.5 months which improved to the level of the general population norms by 24 months. For hospitalized UEI patients, HRQoL improved from 2.5 to 24 months but remained far below population norms. The more proximal UEI had a lower HRQoL and a slower recovery of HRQoL than distal injuries. At all time points, the proportion of UEI patients with limitations on the health domains self-care, usual activities and complaints of pain and/or discomfort was higher than in the group of all injuries. Female gender, higher age, low educational level, co-morbidity, shoulder or upper arm injury, multiple injuries and hospitalization are independent predictors for long-term loss in HRQoL.ConclusionsThe impact of UEI exceeds the health consequences of the group with all injuries, for both non-hospitalized and hospitalized patients. The presence of UEI substantially reduces HRQoL in the short and long term, mainly due to limitations on the health domains self-care, usual activities and complaints of pain and/or discomfort.Clinical relevanceThe impact of UEIs on HRQoL exceeds the health consequences of the group with all injuries. Proximal UEIs had a lower HRQoL and slower recovery than distal injuries. The predictors for the outcome on specific UEIs need to be further investigated in clinical studies, to understand how these differences affect patient-reported outcome measures. These data provide additional insight into treatment outcome and are needed to improve quality of care.     

Health-related quality of life after radical retropubic prostatectomy and permanent prostate brachytherapy: a 3-year follow-up study

Objectives: To examine quality of life (QOL) for 3 years after radical retropubic prostatectomy (RRP) or permanent prostate brachytherapy (PPB) and to determine differences between the two procedures. Methods: In all 107 patients who underwent RRP and 91 who received PPB between October 2005 and July 2007 were included in this study. QOL surveys were performed using the international prostate symptom score (IPSS), the Medical Outcome Study 8‐items short form health survey and the expanded prostate cancer index composite at baseline and 1, 3, 6, 12 and 36 months after treatment. Results: At 3 years, all parameters for general QOL and almost all for disease‐specific QOL were similar to those at 12 months. Urinary continence after RRP slightly improved from 12 months to 3 years, but it was still significantly worse than that after PPB. Scores for urinary irritation or obstruction and for bowel function and bother at 3 years were similar between the two groups. Sexual function and bother did not change between 12 months and 3 years in either group. Sexual function at 3 years after RRP was worse than that after PPB. Recovery from urinary incontinence and sexual function after RRP with nerve sparing were similar to those after PPB. Urinary incontinence at 3 years correlated with the treatment method and patients' age, whereas urinary irritation/obstruction and urinary bother correlated with the pre‐treatment IPSS. Conclusion: QOL assessment represents an important issue in prostate cancer management. Our findings are likely to be of aid in the development of a treatment plan for prostate cancer patients.     

Health-related quality of life in pediatric patients with ESRD

As part of creating a pediatric ESRD-specific Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQOL) assessment instrument, we established pilot data with the PedsQL 4.0 Generic Core Scales in 96 pediatric patients with ESRD receiving hemodialysis (HD), peritoneal dialysis (PD) or with a renal transplant (TX). Patient age ranges were: 2–4 (8; PD n=3, TX n=5), 5–7 (12; HD n=9, TX n=3), 8–12 (25; HD n=5, PD n=6, TX n=14), 13–18 (51; HD n=18, PD n=10, TX n=23). PedsQL ESRD data were compared to healthy children (n=131 child report; n=145 parent report) and across HD/PD/TX. For all domains, ESRD patient HRQOL scores were significantly lower than healthy controls. Transplant patients reported better physical and psychosocial health than dialysis patients. No difference was noted between HD and PD patients for any PedsQL domain. Our data demonstrate that the PedsQL 4.0 Generic Core Scales is a useful measurement instrument to screen for HRQOL impairment in pediatric patients with ESRD. We suggest that the ESRD-specific HRQOL instrument in development is needed to help define condition-specific HRQOL differences between modalities.     

Health-related quality of life after myocardial infarction,does choice of method make a difference?

Objectives. The aim of this study was to compare health-related quality of life (HRQoL) scores obtained from the instrument Short Form (SF)-36 through the so-called SF-6D utilities, and those obtained from 15D, in patients with ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI), and to evaluate the consequences in estimation of quality adjusted life years (QALYs). Design. This was a sub-study of the Norwegian District Treatment of STEMI, in which patients with STEMI treated with tenecteplase, were randomized to early angioplasty or standard management (n = 266). HRQoL data were collected at all visits (0, 1, 3, 7 and 12 months). All patients with complete data were included (n = 248). Results. The score range was 0.33–1.0 for SF-6D and 0.49–1.0 for 15D. Mean utility scores from 15D were higher and had different distribution compared to scores from SF-6D. Mean QALY for the whole group was higher using 15D than SF-6D (0.89 vs. 0.77). The incremental number of QALYs with early angioplasty compared to standard treatment was 0.005 (95% CI: ? 0.018 to 0.028) using SF-6D, and 0.004 (95% CI: ? 0.010 to 0.018) using the 15D instrument. Conclusions. Choice of instrument may influence HRQoL scores, but not necessarily the gain in QALYs.     

Health-related quality of life after radical prostatectomy in Japanese men with localized prostate cancer

PURPOSE: We evaluated retrospectively health-related quality of life (HRQOL) after radical prostatectomy (RP) in Japanese men with localized prostate cancer. METHODS: The study was based on self-reported HRQOL of 280 patients. Patients were divided into seven groups: time 0 (T0), baseline before operation; T1, 1-3 months after RP; T2, 4-6 months after RP; T3, 7-12 months after RP; T4, 13-24 months after RP; T5, 25-36 months after RP; and T6, more than 36 months after RP. We measured the general and disease-specific HRQOL using the RAND 36-item Health Survey 1.0 (SF-36) and the University of California, Los Angeles Prostate Cancer Index (UCLA PCI). RESULTS: The general HRQOL of the postoperative groups was assessed by SF-36. The postoperative groups showed almost the same or higher scores than those of the baseline group. Urinary function scores decreased substantially after surgery. In contrast, there was no difference in urinary bother between the baseline and postoperative groups. Sexual function deteriorated substantially in all postoperative groups. Similarly, the sexual bother score significantly deteriorated after RP. The sexual bother score of men aged 65-years or younger was significantly worse than that of their counterparts in the T1-2 groups. CONCLUSION: Despite reports of problems with sexual activity and urinary continence, general HRQOL was mostly unaffected by RP. Although there was a substantial decrease in urinary function, recovery from urinary bother was rapid. Since the deterioration of sexual function was marked through the postoperative period, careful attention should be paid to this issue during preoperative counseling, especially for younger patients.     

Health-related quality of life in patients on peritoneal dialysis in Serbia: comparison with hemodialysis

Abstract:  Patients' health-related quality of life (HRQoL) is an important indicator of the effectiveness of the medical care they receive. Patients who reach end-stage renal disease are older and have a considerable extent of comorbidity. The objectives of this study were (i) to evaluate HRQoL in patients at the initiation of continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD) treatment (incident cohort) and in patients on long-term CAPD therapy (prevalent cohort), and (ii) to compare influence of comorbidity on HRQoL in CAPD and hemodialysis (HD) patients. In a cross-sectional study we enrolled 99 CAPD and 192 HD patients. HRQoL was assessed with the 36-item Short Form Health Survey Questionnaire (SF-36). HRQoL summary scales in both incident and prevalent groups of CAPD patients were similar for physical component summary score (PCS) and for mental component summary score (MCS). Generally, higher values were found in mental health domains in comparison to PCS. In the incident group of patients, 1 year of peritoneal dialysis treatment was associated with a slight improvement in both PCS and MCS, but statistical significance ( P  < 0.05) was found in the role-physical limitation (RP), bodily pain (BP), and vitality (VT) scales only. CAPD patients with the highest disease severity (Index of Disease Severity [IDS]-3) and physical impairment (Index of Physical Impairment [IPI]-2) scored significantly higher parameters of HRQoL than HD patients. Comorbidity had negative influence on HRQoL, but statistically significant correlation has been found in HD patients only. In conclusion, comorbid conditions had negative correlation with parameters of HRQoL in both CAPD and HD patients. One year after starting CAPD, patients reported better scores in some domains, especially in RP, BP, and VT scales. Assessment of HRQoL and comorbidity might be useful in clinical practice in the follow-up of patients treated with both CAPD and HD.     

Health-related quality of life and utility scores of patients with breast neoplasms in China: A multicenter cross-sectional survey

BackgroundHealth-related quality of life and utility scores of patients with breast cancer and precancerous lesions are sparse in China. This study aimed to derive utility scores of patients with breast cancer and precancer in China.Material and methodsAn interviewer-administered cross-sectional survey was conducted in 12 provinces across China from 2013 to 2014. The three-level EuroQol-5-Dimension instrument was used to evaluate quality of life, and utility scores were generated using the Chinese value set. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to explore the determinants of utility scores.ResultsIn total, 2626 breast cancer and 471 precancer patients were included. Mean age was 49.1 for breast cancer and 41.4 years for precancer (p < 0.001). Among the five dimensions, pain/discomfort was the most reported problem, 53.9% in breast cancer and 29.3% in precancer patients. Mean (95% CI) utility scores for breast cancer and precancer patients were estimated as 0.887 (0.875–0.899) and 0.781 (0.774–0.788), and the scores of breast cancer at stage-I, stage-II, stage-III and stage-IV were 0.789 (0.774–0.805), 0.793 (0.783–0.802), 0.774 (0.759–0.788) and 0.686 (0.654–0.717), respectively. Mean (95% CI) visual analogue scale scores for breast cancer and precancer were 75.6 (74.0–77.3) and 72.8 (72.3–73.3). Multiple regression showed advanced clinical stage, lower educational level, lower household income, surgery treatment, and undergoing treatment were independently associated with lower utility scores for breast cancer patients.ConclusionThe utility scores deteriorate with the severity of breast neoplasms. Detailed utility scores of breast cancer and precancer are fundamental for further cost-utility analysis in China.     

Health-related quality of life assessment by the EuroQol-5D can provide cost-utility data in the field of low-back surgery.

There is limited data on the cost-utility of low-back surgical procedures. The EuroQol-5D (EQ-5D) is a generic health-related quality of life (HRQL) instrument, which was designed for cost-utility analyses and for comparisons of therapeutic effects across different diseases. Disease-specific (HRQL) instruments cannot be used for such purposes. However, there is little evidence of the usefulness of the EQ-5D in the field of low-back surgery, and it might be too general to assess specific conditions. We therefore tested its validity and responsiveness against a widely used disease-specific HRQL instrument [the Oswestry disability index (ODI)], in a prospective study on 326 patients operated for degenerative disorders in the lumbar spine. The reliability of the EQ-5D was also evaluated. Follow-up time was 12 months. Cross-sectional construct validity of the EQ-5D and ODI in the assessments of pain, functional status, health state and employment status were equal. The ODI performed better only in the assessment of walking capability. Only small differences in responsiveness were found. The reliability of the EQ-5D was solid. Our results indicate that the EQ-5D is useful for estimating health state values and for monitoring outcome of patients undergoing low-back surgery. Hence, this instrument would provide valid data for cost–utility analyses.