title: The relationship between global and specific components of quality of life, assessed with the EORTC QLQ-C30 in a sample of 2019 cancer patients.
abstract: Quality of life (QoL) is impaired in many cancer patients. The aim of this study was to test whether detriments in QoL were less pronounced in global assessments of QoL compared to more specific components. A total of 2059 cancer patients with mixed diagnoses were examined 6 months after discharge from a cancer rehabilitation clinic. QoL was measured with the EORTC QLQ-C30, which contains a global QoL scale, and 14 functioning and symptom scales and symptom items. A sample of the general population (n = 4476) served as controls. Regression analyses were performed to calculate expected mean scores for the patients, based on their age and gender distribution. Global QoL in the cancer sample (M = 69.3) was nearly equal to that of the general population, while the mean scores of all functioning scales, symptom scales and symptom items showed markedly worse QoL. This general relationship between global and specific QoL was found for seven of eight cancer types. The results indicate that global QoL is not the sum of its parts. This should be considered when treatment effects on QoL are examined. One alternative is to use higher order summarising functioning and symptom scales.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Psychology and Medical Sociology, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hinz
authors.affiliation: Section of Psychooncology, Department of Medical Psychology and Medical Sociology, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mehnert
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Sociology and Social Work, Babes-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Dégi
authors.affiliation: Department of Prosthetic Dentistry, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany.
authors.forename: D R
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Reissmann
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Schotte
authors.affiliation: Rehabilitation Clinic Bad Oexen, Bad Oeynhausen, Germany.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Schulte
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000855:Anorexia / Q000209:etiology; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use; D000072716:Cancer Pain / Q000209:etiology; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003248:Constipation / Q000209:etiology; D003967:Diarrhea / Q000209:etiology; D004417:Dyspnea / Q000209:etiology; D005221:Fatigue / Q000209:etiology; D005260:Female; D005858:Germany; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009325:Nausea / Q000209:etiology; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000150:complications / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy; D011788:Quality of Life; D011878:Radiotherapy / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000379:methods; D012044:Regression Analysis; D007319:Sleep Initiation and Maintenance Disorders / Q000209:etiology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014839:Vomiting / Q000209:etiology; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents
keywords: EORTC QLQ-C30; life satisfaction; psychological; quality of life; response shift