title: Correlation of clinical stage and performance status with quality of life in patients seen in a pancreas multidisciplinary clinic.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The objectives of this study were to evaluate quality of life (QoL) in patients presenting to the Johns Hopkins Pancreas Multidisciplinary Clinic (PMDC), and to examine associations between disease status, performance status, and QoL in order to identify patient subgroups that are most at risk for reduced QoL.
  
  
  METHODS
  Data from 77 patients were evaluated. At initial presentation, disease and performance status were assessed, as well as QoL, which was obtained with the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer QLQ-PAN26 questionnaire. Statistical analyses examined associations between QoL, disease status, and performance status.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Digestive symptoms (P < .003) significantly differed by pancreatic disease status (resectable, resected, locally advanced, and metastatic). Patients with a worse performance status, defined as Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group ≥ 1, were more likely to report symptomatic pancreatic pain (P = .001), digestive symptoms (P = .017), cachexia (P = .004), and ascites (P < .001) compared with patients with a performance status of 0. The majority (92%) of patients reported a significant fear of future health problems, regardless of disease status or performance status.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Although several measures of QoL have been observed in all patients, certain measures appear to correlate specifically with worse disease status. Therefore, routine assessment of QoL is suggested in order to guide treatment decisions. Further investigation on optimizing the use of QoL measures and patient-reported outcomes to better tailor management is warranted.
authors.affiliation: Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD; and University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA.
authors.forename: Shalini
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Moningi
authors.affiliation: Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD; and University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA.
authors.forename: Amanda J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Walker
authors.affiliation: Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD; and University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA.
authors.forename: Charles C
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Hsu
authors.affiliation: Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD; and University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA.
authors.forename: Jennifer Barsky
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Reese
authors.affiliation: Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD; and University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA.
authors.forename: Jing-Ya
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD; and University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA.
authors.forename: Katherine Y
authors.initials: KY
authors.lastname: Fan
authors.affiliation: Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD; and University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA.
authors.forename: Lauren M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Rosati
authors.affiliation: Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD; and University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA.
authors.forename: Daniel A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Laheru
authors.affiliation: Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD; and University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA.
authors.forename: Matthew J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Weiss
authors.affiliation: Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD; and University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA.
authors.forename: Christopher L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Wolfgang
authors.affiliation: Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD; and University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA.
authors.forename: Timothy M
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: Pawlik
authors.affiliation: Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD; and University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA jherma15@jhmi.edu.
authors.forename: Joseph M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Herman
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D002173:Cancer Care Facilities; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D010190:Pancreatic Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000473:pathology*; D011788:Quality of Life; D057566:Self Report; D012720:Severity of Illness Index