title: Comparison of baseline quality of life measures between renal cell carcinoma patients undergoing partial versus radical nephrectomy.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  To compare demographics, pathologic features, performance scores, comorbidities, symptoms and responses to quality of life (QoL) surveys between nephron-sparing surgery (NSS) and radical nephrectomy (RN) patients prior to surgical intervention. Previous investigators have compared QoL outcomes for patients undergoing RN and NSS; however, there are limited data comparing QoL-related characteristics at baseline between these groups.
  
  
  METHODS
  We identified 144 patients with localized RCC who underwent either NSS (n = 71) or RN (n = 73) between May '07-November '12. We abstracted baseline data on demographic and clinic-pathologic variables as well as responses to the SF-36 and FACT-G surveys from our prospective registry. We amended the FACT-G with 8 additional questions designed to address RCC-specific QoL. For comparisons between the two groups, we employed Wilcoxon rank-sum and Fisher's Exact tests where appropriate.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We observed RN patients to have more aggressive pathology. We noted no difference in performance scores between the two groups; however, RN patients were more likely to have higher Charlson scores (p = 0.022) and various symptoms at presentation (all p <0.001). For the QoL surveys, we did not observe differences on the FACT-G; however, we noted evidence of differential scores between the two groups on specific domains of the SF-36 (e.g. Mental Health; p 0.022) and the RCC-specific QoL questions added to the FACT-G.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We report baseline differences between RN and NSS patients on clinico-pathologic as well as QoL-related metrics. As issues of survivorship become increasingly important, our results underscore the need to consider baseline status in evaluations of QoL-related outcomes for patients undergoing surgery for RCC.
authors.forename: Michelle L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Arnold
authors.forename: David D
authors.initials: DD
authors.lastname: Thiel
authors.forename: Nancy
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Diehl
authors.forename: Kevin J
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Steve
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ames
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Sciences Research, 4500 San Pablo Road, Jacksonville, FL 32224, USA. parker.alexander@mayo.edu.
authors.forename: Alexander S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Parker
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002292:Carcinoma, Renal Cell / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology* / Q000601:surgery*; D005260:Female; D005431:Florida; D006801:Humans; D007680:Kidney Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology* / Q000601:surgery*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009392:Nephrectomy / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D015995:Prevalence; D011788:Quality of Life / Q000523:psychology*; D012042:Registries; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D016896:Treatment Outcome