title: Prospective assessment of health-related quality of life in patients with low-grade glioma: a single-center experience.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The assessment of Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQoL) in cancer patients has become increasingly important during the past decades. The aim of this study was to evaluate the HRQoL in patients treated for low-grade glioma (LGG).
  
  
  METHODS
  Forty-three adult patients with LGG were evaluated prospectively between September 2006 and December 2010. We assessed HRQoL at baseline (after surgery before radiotherapy), at the end of radiotherapy and during follow-up (every 3 months for the first 2 years and every 6 months between 2 and 5 years), using the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire 30 (EORTC-C30), Brain Cancer Module-20 (BN-20), Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE) and Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS).
  
  
  RESULTS
  We demonstrated changes in global score (p = 0.004), and future uncertainty (p < 0.001), communication deficit (p = 0.007), headache (p < 0.001), drowsiness (p = 0.002) and hair loss (p < 0.001), and recall score (p = 0.0029) during follow-up. All complaints of LGG patients showed improvement, except for the hair loss. Although the baseline cognitive function scores was not significantly different, the third-year cognitive function scores of patients who used antiepileptic drugs had lower when compared to patients who did not use (p < 0.001). The baseline and follow-up anxiety and depression scores did not differ significantly.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our results suggested that there were improvement in HRQoL in LGG patients during follow-up and antiepileptic drugs had negative effect on cognitive functions.
authors: Faculty of Medicine, Department of Radiation Oncology, Hacettepe University, Ankara, Turkey. drcagdasyavas@gmail.com
authors: Cagdas
authors: C
authors: Yavas
authors: Faruk
authors: F
authors: Zorlu
authors: Gokhan
authors: G
authors: Ozyigit
authors: Murat
authors: M
authors: Gurkaynak
authors: Guler
authors: G
authors: Yavas
authors: Deniz
authors: D
authors: Yuce
authors: Mustafa
authors: M
authors: Cengiz
authors: Ferah
authors: F
authors: Yildiz
authors: Fadil
authors: F
authors: Akyol
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001932:Brain Neoplasms / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy; D005260:Female; D005910:Glioma / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011788:Quality of Life; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires