Health-related quality of life in patients with pancreatic cancer.
BACKGROUND
Pancreatic cancer is an aggressive cancer with low survival time, with health-related quality of life (HRQoL) being of major importance. The aim of our study was to assess both generic and disease-specific HRQoL in patients with pancreatic cancer.


METHODS
Patients with pancreatic cancer were consecutively included at admission to hospital. HRQoL was determined with the disease-specific European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) and generic EuroQoL (EQ-5D) health status instruments. Scores of patients were compared to those of norm populations. The association of symptoms with overall HRQoL was analysed using linear regression.


RESULTS
A total of 45 patients with pancreatic cancer were included. The mean age was 64 years, 53% were females. Of all patients, 44% had metastases at the time of admission. HRQoL was significantly impaired for most EORTC and EQ-5D scales in comparison to norm populations. Symptoms of fatigue (-0.34 regression coefficient; 95% CI -0.63, -0.11) and pain (-0.21; 95% CI -0.39, -0.02) were significantly associated with impaired overall HRQoL.


CONCLUSIONS
HRQoL was severely impaired in patients with pancreatic cancer. Symptom control and palliative care appear to be of particular importance.
Müller-Nordhorn
J
J
Institute of Social Medicine, Epidemiology and Health Economics, Charité University Medical Center, Berlin, Germany. jacqueline.mueller-nordhorn@charite.de
Roll
S
S
Böhmig
M
M
Nocon
M
M
Reich
A
A
Braun
C
C
Noesselt
L
L
Wiedenmann
B
B
Willich
S N
SN
Brüggenjürgen
B
B
D000368:Aged; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D006305:Health Status Indicators; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D010190:Pancreatic Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011788:Quality of Life; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires