Health-related quality of life and associated factors in Chinese women with cervical cancer: a 9-month follow-up.
BACKGROUND
There is a lack of health-related quality of life (HRQOL) studies in Chinese women with cervical cancer.


OBJECTIVE
The objectives of this study were to investigate the HRQOL trajectory in women with cervical cancer in Mainland China in the 9 months following diagnosis and to identify factors that influence HRQOL.


METHODS
Initially, 187 patients with cervical cancer were included in the study, but at each follow-up, the number declined to 128, 112, and 106, respectively. The Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Cervix (FACT-Cx) was used to collect data sequentially at the time of diagnosis (T1) and at 3 (T2), 6 (T3), and 9 months after diagnosis (T4). Medical characteristics, sense of coherence, and social support were included as factors likely to contribute to HRQOL.


RESULTS
Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Cervix ranged in mean from 120.30 at T1 to 126.22 at T4 (P = .001), whereas social/family well-being ranged from 23.56 at T1 to 20.23 at T4 (P = .025). In the stepwise regression with FACT-Cx as the independent variable, sense of coherence entered the equation with the highest standardized coefficients (0.554) at T1 and stage II at T2 and T3 (-0.53 and -0.26, respectively). Satisfaction with family relationships had the second highest standardized coefficient (-0.21) at T3.


CONCLUSIONS
Overall HRQOL improved, although social/family well-being deteriorated. Sense of coherence contributed to HRQOL initially, whereas disease stage and family support did so later on.


CONCLUSIONS
The study highlights the importance of identifying those with a low sense of coherence at the time of diagnosis. Family members should be included in caring process as a vital source of social support.
Faculty of Medicine, Department of Health Sciences, Lund University, Sweden. jonish@vip.sina.com
Yan
Y
Ding
Yan
Y
Hu
Ingalill Rahm
IR
Hallberg
D000328:Adult; D002681:China; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D004522:Educational Status; D005195:Family Relations; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D015438:Health Behavior; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009361:Neoplasm Invasiveness / Q000473:pathology; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D010349:Patient Compliance / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011788:Quality of Life; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012944:Social Support; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013997:Time Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D002583:Uterine Cervical Neoplasms / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy*; D055815:Young Adult