title: The Impact of Primary Treatment Strategy on the Quality of Life in Patients with Vestibular Schwannoma.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To assess the quality of life (QoL) in a representative sample of patients with vestibular schwannoma and to ascertain the differences in outcomes associated with distinct management strategies.
  
  
  METHODS
  Patients with vestibular schwannoma attending a tertiary referral center were asked to complete the Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy-Brain Questionnaire, which assesses QoL in 5 domains: physical, social, emotional and functional, and a brain cancer-specific domain. Results were analyzed in the overall cohort and in surgery, stereotactic radiosurgery, and conservative management subgroups. The relationship between patient clinical characteristics and QoL outcome also was analyzed by univariable and multivariable logistic regression.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There were 83 survey respondents with an average age of participants of 57 years and a mean follow-up of 4.9 years. QoL was statistically significantly lower in the surgery subgroup within the Physical QoL domain (P = 0.039); however, there was no significant difference in overall QoL between the 3 subgroups of surgery, radiosurgery, and conservative management (P = 0.17). A poor QoL outcome was associated with the number of symptoms at diagnosis, greater tumor size, and a surgical management strategy.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The QoL within this patient cohort was extremely variable in each management group, mirroring the heterogeneous natural history of this disease process. QoL in patients with vestibular schwannoma cannot be predicted based on management strategy alone, but a poor QoL outcome is more likely in patients with larger, symptomatic tumors that are treated surgically.
authors.affiliation: UCD School of Medicine, University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland; UCD Conway Institute of Biomolecular and Biomedical Research, University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland. Electronic address: robert.foley.2@ucdconnect.ie.
authors.forename: Robert W
authors.initials: RW
authors.lastname: Foley
authors.affiliation: UCD School of Medicine, University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland; Croydon University Hospital, Croydon NHS Trust, London, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Robert M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Maweni
authors.affiliation: Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Hussein
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Jaafar
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology, Beaumont Hospital, Dublin, Ireland.
authors.forename: Rory
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: McConn Walsh
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, Beaumont Hospital, Dublin, Ireland.
authors.forename: Mohsen
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Javadpour
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, Beaumont Hospital, Dublin, Ireland.
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Rawluk
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009464:Neuroma, Acoustic / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy*; D019635:Neurosurgical Procedures / Q000379:methods; D011788:Quality of Life / Q000523:psychology*; D011878:Radiotherapy; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D016896:Treatment Outcome
keywords: Microsurgery; Observation; Quality of life; Questionnaire; Stereotactic radiosurgery; Vestibular schwannoma