Assessment of pulmonary function and quality of life in patients submitted to pulmonary resection for cancer.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the effects that pulmonary resection has on pulmonary function and quality of life (QoL) in patients with primary or metastatic lung cancer.


METHODS
This was a prospective cohort study involving all patients submitted to pulmonary resection for cancer between September of 2006 and March of 2007 at the A. C. Camargo Hospital in São Paulo, Brazil. Patients underwent spirometry in the preoperative period and at six months after the surgical procedure. After a postoperative period of six months, the patients completed an overall QoL questionnaire (the Medical Outcomes Study 36-item Short-form Health Survey) and another one, specific for respiratory symptoms (the Saint George's Respiratory Questionnaire). The scores obtained in our study were compared with those previously obtained for a general population and for a population of patients with COPD.


RESULTS
We included 33 patients (14 males and 19 females), ranging in age from 39 to 79 years. All of the patients, smokers and nonsmokers alike, presented significant worsening of pulmonary function. The mean scores on the overall QoL questionnaire were approximately 5% lower than those obtained for the general population. The scores of various domains of the symptom-specific QoL questionnaire were 50-60% lower than those obtained for the general population and approximately 20% higher than those obtained for the population with COPD.


CONCLUSIONS
Pulmonary resection has a direct negative impact on pulmonary function and QoL, especially on the QoL related to aspects directly linked to pulmonary function. We highlight the importance of preoperative assessment of pulmonary function in patients undergoing pulmonary resection, in order to predict their postoperative evolution.
Lima
Luciana Nunes Titton
LN
A. C. Camargo Hospital, São Paulo, Brazil. lutitton@yahoo.com.br
da Silva
Rodrigo Afonso
RA
Gross
Jefferson Luiz
JL
Deheinzelin
Daniel
D
Negri
Elnara Márcia
EM
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008168:Lung / Q000503:physiopathology*; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000601:surgery*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011788:Quality of Life; D012016:Reference Values; D013147:Spirometry; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires