title: [Quality of life of patients operated for gastric cancer].
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Gastric cancer is the first cause of death by cancer in Chile. Quality of Life is a multidimensional construct that explores functionality and well-being, including physiological, psychological and social aspects.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To assess Quality of Life of patients operated for gastric cancer.
  
  
  METHODS
  The European Organization Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire (EORTC QLQ-30), translated into Spanish, was applied to 33 patients, aged 42 to 82 years (25 males), subjected to curative total or subtotal gastrectomy for gastric cancer, between January 2004 and December 2006.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The average lapse from the moment of the surgical intervention to the interview, was 52.2 weeks. Fifty five percent perceived their Quality of Life in the "good" category. Male patients and those with less than 6 months of surgery, obtained better scores in psychological aspects of quality of life.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  A high percentage of patients operated for gastric cancer qualified their quality of life as good in spite of the severity of the underlying disease and invasiveness of the intervention. This is probably explained by the importance of psychological factors that influence quality of life.
authors.affiliation: Equipo de Cirugía Gástrica, Servicio de Cirugía, Hospital del Salvador, Santiago, Chile.
authors.forename: Hernán
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Arancibia
authors.forename: Carlos
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Carvajal
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bustamante
authors.forename: Juan Carlos
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Justiniano
authors.forename: Ornar
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Talhouk
authors.forename: Kenneth
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Guler
authors.forename: Ilse
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: López
authors.forename: Julio
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Núñez
authors.forename: Sebastián
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Medina
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002677:Chile; D005260:Female; D005743:Gastrectomy / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011788:Quality of Life / Q000523:psychology*; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D013274:Stomach Neoplasms / Q000523:psychology / Q000601:surgery*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013997:Time Factors