Evaluation of the quality of life between inpatients and outpatients receiving cancer chemotherapy in Japan

A quality of life (QOL) assessment has become increasingly common in cancer clinical trials. Seventy-four consecutive patients treated for cancer between August 2005 and January 2006 at the Cancer Chemotherapy Center in the University of Occupational and Environmental Health, Japan, were examined. The 8-Short form health survey (SF-8) was utilized as a comprehensive scale and quality of life questionnaire for cancer patients treated with anticancer drugs (QOL-ACD) as disease specific scale for the QOL evaluation. The QOL for outpatients was investigated in comparison with that for inpatients. All questionnaires were collected and baseline questionnaires were filled in by 98.1% of the subjects. The physical comprehensive score (PCS) of SF-8 for the outpatients was higher than that for the inpatients. The physical condition of the outpatients was better than that of inpatients. There was no difference in the baseline scores of the QOL-ACD scales in daily activity, psychological condition, social attitude, and face scale of the analyzed domains between the two groups. Furthermore, a longitudinal study from admission to outpatient was carried out on 27 patients who were treated on an outpatient basis in our clinic. No difference in the baseline scores of the SF-8 and QOL-ACD scales were observed in any of the analyzed domains. These data suggest that the present QOL study has a sufficient feasibility for the outpatients evaluated in our study, and QOL of outpatients after discharge is equal to that of inpatients receiving cancer chemotherapy.