Quality of Life of Family Caregivers of Cancer Patients in a Developing Nation

Background: Quality of life (QOL) of family caregivers of cancer patients is usually affected due to increase in caregiver burden. Their QOL has not garnered much attention by many including the health professionals and community. This study aims to explore the QOL of family caregivers of cancer patients in a multi-ethnic country in Asia and to investigate its associate factors. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study where family caregivers and patients who were diagnosed of cancers within 12 months were recruited. QOL of caregivers were measured using The Caregiver Quality of Life Index-Cancer (CQOLC). Psychological distress was measured using Hospital anxiety and depressive scale. Logistic regression analysis was performed to determine the related factors of QOL of caregivers. Results: A total of 458 patients/caregiver pairs were included. Symptoms of anxiety and depression reported by caregivers were 24.9% and 24.2% respectively. Caregivers of patients with solid tumors have better CQOLC score compared to those who cared for patients with hematological cancers (91.25 vs 86.75). Caregivers of non-Malay ethnicity, those caring for patients with advanced stage cancer and with hematological cancers had significantly poorer QOL. QOL of caregivers are also significantly affected when patients demonstrated anxiety symptoms. Conclusion: This study provides detailed evaluation of the QOL of caregivers of cancer patients in Malaysia. The significant psychological distress and low caregiver QOL indicate the urgent need for comprehensive supports for caregivers with cancer patients, especially those caring for patients with haematological cancers.     

Quality of Life of Male Spouse Caregivers for Breast Cancer Patients in China

Background: The aim of this study was to describe the characteristics of male spouse caregivers of breastcancer patients in China, assess their quality of life (QOL), and investigate the influencing factors. Materialsand Methods: A total of 243 breast cancer patient-spouse caregiver dyads were recruited from four hospitalsin Shanxi and Anhui province of China. A cross-sectional design was applied to collect data and the Chineseversion of the Medical Outcomes Study 36-item Short Form (SF-36) was used to measure caregivers’ QOL, andthe Chinese version of M.D. Anderson Symptom Inventory (MDASI-C) was applied to measure patient symptomseverity and interference. Pearson’s correlation was used to examine the correlations between caregiver burdenand QOL. The multiple regression analysis was used to determine the most predictive factors influencing QOL.Results: The scores of all SF-36 scales were above 50.0, which were much lower than that of general mainlandChinese males. Mental QOL was significantly worse than physical QOL. Spouses demographic characteristics,caregiving-related variables and patient symptoms were related to spouse QOL. Caregiver burden has a negativerelationship with QOL. Conclusions: A decrease in life events and patient symptoms, as well as increase in spousesleeping time and family income, ought to improve QOL.     

Health-Related Quality of Life among Egyptian Female Breast Cancer Patients at the National Cancer Institute,Cairo University

Background: To measure the quality of life (QoL) of Egyptian females with breast cancer (BC) at the National Cancer Institute (NCI), Cairo University (CU) and its relations with the socio-demographic and clinical characteristics. Methods: A total of 200 female BC patients were recruited from the medical oncology outpatient clinic during a period from December 2015 to March 2018. The instrument of this study consisted of two parts: the first for Socio-demographic and clinicopathological characteristics, and the second was the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Breast for patients with Lymphedema (FACT-B+4) questionnaire. Results: The majority of the study participants were married, housewives, and without a family history of cancer (70.0%, 93.0%, and 63.0%, respectively). Most of them presented with breast mass, had IDC, grade II and disease stage III at diagnosis (89.0%, 84.5%, 85.6% and 56.8%, respectively) and had undergone modified radical mastectomy, received adjuvant chemotherapy, radiation, and hormonal therapy (62.0%, 83.8%, 73.5% and 60.5%, respectively). The median FACT-B score was 81 (range 35-133). The medians of subscales were: physical well-being 13 (range 0-28), social well-being 20 (range 0-28), emotional well-being 15 (range 2-24), and functional well-being 16 (range 2-28). The median score for breast subscale was 19 (range 2-32). Many factors affected the QoL scores, including age, marital status, occupation, smoking, residence, comorbidities, symptoms, grade, chemotherapy, radiation, and recurrence. Conclusion: QoL of Egyptian females with BC was influenced by several factors like age, marital status, occupation, smoking, residence, comorbidities, symptoms, grade, chemotherapy, radiation, and recurrence.     

Factors Associated with the Quality of Life among Family Caregivers of Cholangiocarcinoma Survivors in Northeastern Thailand

Background: Cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) is a common and usually lethal liver cancer especially in Southeast Asia. Family caregivers (FCs) and their quality of life (QOL) is important for the care process to operate effectively. However, there are only few research articles about the QOL of CCA FCs. The goal of this study was to assess the QOL and its associated factors among CCA FCs. Material and Methods: This cross-sectional study was undertaken with 231 CCA FCs who were the primary FCs for CCA patients in a tertiary hospital in Northeastern Thailand. The QOL was measured using the Thai version of the World Health Organization’s Quality of Life Questionnaire. Multivariate regression models were developed to investigate the predictors of the QOL, including the demographic characteristics, symptoms, anxiety and depression, and support care need. Results: The CCA caregivers had moderate to high QOL for all of four domains: the mean score was 27.03 (SD=2.81) for physical, 23.13 (SD=2.81) for psychological, 11.32 (SD=1.08) for social relationships, and 28.08 (SD=2.81) for environment. Multivariable analysis shows that, symptoms, support care need, age and education level were significant predictors of FCs’s QOL. Moreover. The QOL was lower in younger FCs (p<0.001). Conclusion: Symptoms, support care needs, age, and education level were associated with QOL among FCs for CCA patients. A holistic strategy that includes caregiver training, psychosocial therapies, and proper support may help these FCs for a better QOL.     

Prevalence and Impact of Fatigue on Quality of Life (QOL) of Cancer Patients Undergoing Chemotherapy: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Background: Fatigue is a typical consequence of cancer that can affect one’s quality of life (QOL). The goal of this review is to provide comprehensive data on the impact of fatigue on QOL of cancer patients. Methods: An electronic data search in Web of Science, SCOPUS, and PubMed for relevant papers; those written in English; those reporting quantitative data; and those including more than one hundred patients who received just chemotherapy were included. Studies involving participants that received other kinds of anti-neoplastic therapies were excluded. Results: A total of 35 papers published between January 2000 and December 2021 were retrieved from the search databases of which (11612 patients) met the inclusion criteria. Findings showed that fatigue negatively affected QOL with a pooled prevalence of 49% (95% CI; 25.00-74.00) and the significant heterogeneity between articles was (I²=98%, P <0.001). Further, breast cancer contributed to the majority of selected articles with about 55 % (95%CI; 9:00- 94:00), followed by cancer (unspecified) 44% (95%CI; 5:00 – 92:00). Most studies (71%) (95%CI; 4:00 – 99:00) used the brief fatigue inventory (BFI) tool to assess severity of fatigue and 39% (95%CI; 17:00 -68:00) employed the European Organisation for the Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire to evaluate QOL among cancer survivors. Conclusion: The prevalence of fatigue in cancer patients is high and fatigue has a negative impact on QOL of cancer patients receiving chemotherapy. Directionality, fatigue needs to be addressed and treated properly for better improvement of health status and QOL in cancer patients.     

Evaluation of Health-Related Quality of Life among Patients with Cervical Cancer in Indonesia

Background: Evaluation of health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in cervical cancer patients is importantin order to design the interventions for improving patient outcomes. Reports of HRQOL among cervical cancerpatients in Indonesia are limited. Moreover, measurement using EQ-5D-3L is to our best knowledge has hithertonot been performed. This study aimed to examine the HRQOL of cervical cancer patients in Indonesia using EQ-5D-3L. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted by interviewing cervical cancer patientsusing the EQ-5D-3L questionnaire. Percentages of patients who reported having problems in each dimensionof EQ-5D as well as EQ-5D index score (utility) were calculated. Results: Our findings indicated that the mostfrequent reported problems were pain/discomfort (67.8%) followed by anxiety/depression (57.5%). The meanof EQ-5D VAS was 75.8 (SD=17.0). The mean (SD) utility scores were 0.85 (0.19), 0.76 (0.20), 0.71 (0.21), and0.77 (0.13) for cervical cancer patients in stage I, II, III, and IV, respectively. Conclusions: Cervical cancersignificantly affects patient HRQOL. Efforts should be made to improve the quality of life of cervical cancerpatients especially in terms of pain /discomfort and anxiety/depression reduction.     

Socio-Demography and Medical History as Predictors of Health-Related Quality of Life of Breast Cancer Survivors

Background: Even after completion of conventional treatment, breast cancer survivors continue to exhibita variety of psychological and physical symptoms, affecting their quality of life. The study aimed to investigatethe relationship between socio-demography, medical characteristics and health-related quality of life (HR-QOL)of a sample of breast cancer survivors in Malaysia. Materials and Methods: This pilot cross-sectional surveywas conducted among breast cancer survivors (n=40) who were members of Breast Cancer Support GroupCentre Johor Bahru. A validated self-administered questionnaire was used to identify the relationships betweensocio-demography, medical characteristics and HR-QOL of the participants. Results: Living with family andcompletion of treatment were significant predictive factors of self-rated QOL, while living with family and evergiving birth significantly predicted satisfaction with health and physical health. Psychological health had moderatecorrelations with number of children and early cancer stage. Survivors’ higher personal income (>MYR4,500)was the only significant predictor of social relationship, while age, income more than MYR4,500 and giving birthsignificantly predicted environment domain score. Conclusions: The findings suggested the survivors copedbetter in all four HR-QOL domains if they were married, lived with family, had children and were employed.     

Measuring Quality of Life in Thai Women with Breast Cancer

Breast cancer has become a commonly diagnosed disease among Thai women in the last decade, despite thefact that Thai women generally have a lower rates than their Western counterparts. With the rising incidenceand survival rates, it is crucial for nurses to look at the long term quality of life of these patients. A broad rangeof instruments have been used in clinical trials among breast cancer patients in oncology, like the EORTCquestionnaire including the general quality of life questions (QLQ-C30) and the breast cancer module (QLQBR23),and the FACT-B questionnaire consisting of both a generic part (FACT-G) and a breast cancer specificmodule. They have been shown to have good validity and reliability properties both for the English original andtranslations into various languages including Thai. A few studies on quality of life in Thai context exist, coveringquality of life in women with breast cancer. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to find which standardmeasure of common Western quality of life scales is appropriate to assess quality of life in Thai women withbreast cancer. Results revealed the Thai version of EORTC QLQ-C30 and FACT-G questionnaires to be reliableand valid to assess quality of life in general. The best fit for measuring quality of life in Thai women with breastcancer during adjuvant treatment should be the EORTC QLQ-C30/-BR23.     

Quality of Life of Women with Breast Cancer and Socio-Demographic Factors

Background. Breast cancer treatment is an aggressive therapy that affects the deterioration of women’s quality of life (QOL) in many areas. Knowledge about factors that influence the assessment of the QOL is of particular importance. The aim of the study was to analyse areas of the quality of life of women with breast cancer, taking into account social and demographic factors. Methods: The research was carried included 324 women with breast cancer. The research was carried out using a diagnostic survey, the author’s questionnaire and a standardized questionnaire for measuring the QOL of women treated for breast cancer, ie the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer, Quality of Life Questionnaire (EORTC) QLQ-C30 and QLQ-QLQ module BR23. Statistical analysis uses Statistica 10.0 software. The results were considered statistically significant when the calculated probability met the inequality of p