title: A prospective evaluation of short-term health-related quality of life in patients undergoing anterior skull base surgery.
abstract: We evaluated the health-related quality of life (QOL) of patients undergoing anterior skull base tumor resection. The Anterior Skull Base Surgery QOL questionnaire, a disease-specific multidimensional instrument dedicated to this population, was used to collect and prospectively analyze demographic, medical, and QOL data on 48 patients. Thirty-nine patients completed the questionnaire preoperatively and at 6 and 12 months postoperatively. Seventeen patients (44%) had malignant histology and 22 (56%) had benign tumors. The overall QOL score decreased significantly at 6 months postoperatively (p < 0.05) and improved significantly at 12 months postoperatively (p < 0.04). The emotional domain improved significantly at 12 months postoperatively compared with the preoperative scores (p < 0.03). Patients with malignant tumors had lower scores at 6 months postoperatively compared with patients with benign lesions (p < 0.002), although the scores for both groups at 12 months postoperatively were similar. Adjuvant radiation therapy was associated with a poor QOL (p < 0.005). The results of this prospective study show that the overall deteriorated QOL of patients after anterior skull base tumor resection returns to baseline by 1 year after surgery. Histology and radiotherapy are significant predictors of health-related QOL in this population.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Tel-Aviv Sourasky Medical Center, Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel-Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel.
authors.forename: Abraham
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Abergel
authors.forename: Dan M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Fliss
authors.forename: Nevo
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Margalit
authors.forename: Ziv
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Gil