title: Development of a survey instrument to assess health-related quality of life in small animal cancer patients treated with chemotherapy.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To develop a quality of life (QOL) survey for use in a canine cancer chemotherapy setting, validate the instrument's utility, identify key questions that facilitate client and clinician communication regarding decisions in patient care, and use human and veterinary QOL literature to develop a comprehensive yet simple proxy survey instrument.
  
  
  METHODS
  Survey.
  
  
  METHODS
  29 canine chemotherapy patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  Patients were evaluated by both owners and veterinarians at the time of initial visit to the clinic and at 3 and 6 weeks after the initiation of chemotherapy. This survey consisted of a longitudinal evaluation of QOL with 6 components addressing the animal's QOL retrospectively, before onset of cancer; changes in the animal's QOL since manifestation of disease; changes in the animal's QOL with regard to treatment response; owner's QOL and its impact on priorities in decision making; clinician's impression of the owner's priorities and QOL; and clinician's impression of the dog's QOL.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Multiple regression analysis indicated 3 significant predictors of canine cancer patient QOL to be play behaviors, signs of illness, and canine happiness as perceived by owners.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The QOL instrument was easy to use and enhanced client perception of patient care and clinician concern. Owners enjoyed the opportunity to complete the survey. Since questions regarding play behaviors, clinical signs of disease, and canine happiness were significant indicators of changes in QOL, these should be included in future studies. Quality of life assessment may facilitate treatment decisions and assessment of canine patients undergoing chemotherapy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Small Animal Clinical Sciences and the Comparative Medicine and Integrative Biology Program, College of Veterinary Medicine, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA. iliopoul@msu.edu
authors.forename: Maria A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Iliopoulou
authors.forename: Barbara E
authors.initials: BE
authors.lastname: Kitchell
authors.forename: Vilma
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Yuzbasiyan-Gurkan
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D003625:Data Collection; D004283:Dog Diseases / Q000188:drug therapy*; D004285:Dogs; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000662:veterinary*; D010067:Ownership; D011788:Quality of Life; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents