Correlates of health-related quality of life in upper aerodigestive tract cancer patients.
Reflecting a limited understanding of the definition and determinants of health-related quality of life (HRQoL), the majority of research in this field has concentrated upon the effect of disease- and treatment-related variables. That work specifically investigating HRQoL among upper aerodigestive tract (UADT) cancer patients is no exception to this observation. Treating subject-related and non-subject-related variables separately, the aim of this study was to investigate predictors of global HRQoL rating in a sample of UADT cancer patients, concentrating upon the relative importance of sociodemographic and clinical variables. A cross-sectional study design was used with a sample of 188 UADT cancer patients. Global HRQoL was assessed using the EORTC QLQ-C30 instrument, global domain (global QoL). Other study variables were collected by subject interview and chart review. Two multivariate regression models were independently developed, containing, respectively, subject-rated and non-subject rated variables. In the model containing subject-rated predictors of global QoL, emotional, breathing, physical, financial, pain and appetite problems were significant predictors (F = 14.6, p < 0.0001 and r2 = 0.54). Among non-subject-rated sociodemographic and clinical variables tested, unemployment, older age, female gender, being dentate and a more advanced disease stage predicted worse global QoL rating, while oral as opposed to pharyngeal or laryngeal cancer predicted a better global QoL rating (F = 5.1, p < 0.0001 and r2 = 0.21). In the latter model, a greater proportion of the variance was explained by sociodemographic variables than by clinical variables.
Allison
P J
PJ
Faculty of Dentistry, McGill University, Montreal, Canada.
Locker
D
D
Wood-Dauphinee
S
S
Black
M
M
Feine
J S
JS
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006258:Head and Neck Neoplasms / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy; D006305:Health Status Indicators; D006801:Humans; D016014:Linear Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011788:Quality of Life; D011792:Quebec; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires