title: Health-related quality of life in glioma patients in China.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Health-related quality of life (HRQOL) has been increasingly emphasized in cancer patients. There are no reports comparing baseline HRQOL of different subgroups of glioma patients prior to surgery.
  
  
  METHODS
  HRQOL assessments by the standard Chinese version of the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Core Questionnaire 30 (EORTC QLQ-C30, version 3.0), the Mini-Mental State Examination and Karnofsky Performance Status were obtained from glioma patients prior to surgery.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Ninety-two pathologically confirmed glioma patients were recruited. There were 84.8% patients with emotional impairment, 75% with social and cognitive impairment, 70.7% with physical impairment, and 50% with role impairment. Eighty-two percent of patients reported fatigue symptoms, 72.8% reported pain, 50% reported appetite loss, 39.1% reported insomnia, and 36.9% reported nausea/vomiting, whereas other symptoms (dyspnea, diarrhea, constipation) in the QLQ-C30 were reported by fewer than 30% of patients. Fatigue and pain symptoms and all "functioning" scales were strongly correlated with global health status/quality of life (QoL). Fatigue was strongly related to all functioning scales, pain, appetite loss, and global health status/QoL. No difference in baseline HRQOL prior to surgery was reported between females and males, among different lesion locations, or between normal- and abnormal-cognition subgroups of glioma patients. Age, KPS, WHO grade, and tumor recurrence significantly affected HRQOL in glioma patients.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These data provided the baseline HRQOL in glioma patients prior to surgery in China. Most pre-surgery glioma patients indicated emotional, social, cognitive, physical, and role impairment. Fatigue, pain, appetite loss, insomnia, and nausea/vomiting were common in these patients. The fatigue and pain symptoms and all types of functioning strongly affected global health status/QoL. Old age, worse performance status, WHO grade IV and tumor recurrence had deleterious effects on HRQOL.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, Xijing Institute of Clinical Neuroscience, Xijing Hospital, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, Shaanxi Province, China.
authors.forename: Jin-xiang
authors.initials: JX
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.forename: Bo-lin
authors.initials: BL
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Xiang
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: Yong-qiang
authors.initials: YQ
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Wei-ping
authors.initials: WP
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Jian-ning
authors.initials: JN
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Hong
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: Rui
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Hong
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yin
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001932:Brain Neoplasms / Q000150:complications / Q000523:psychology*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002681:China; D005260:Female; D005910:Glioma / Q000150:complications / Q000523:psychology*; D006305:Health Status Indicators; D006801:Humans; D017567:Karnofsky Performance Status; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011788:Quality of Life; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult