Quality of life after stem cell transplantation: a patient, partner and physician perspective

Background: Although increasing data are available on quality of life (QOL) issues after stem cell transplantation (SCT), many issues are still unresolved. With the increasing use of transplants in non-curative situations, quality of life issues have become especially important. Methods: All patients who had undergone SCT and had no recurrent disease were asked to provide quality of life data using the EORTC QLQ-C30 questionnaire at about 2.5 (n=52) and 4.5 years (n=33) after transplantation. In addition, the patients' partners and physicians were asked to estimate the patients' quality of life. Results: Scores on the functional scales ranged from 65 to 80 and were comparable initially and at the 23-month follow-up. The initial, overall quality of life of the patients was 75. After an additional 23-month follow-up, the overall quality of life was 73. Fatigue, sleeping disturbances, and financial problems scored relatively high. Generally, in contrast to partners, physicians underestimated symptoms and overestimated functions and quality of life significantly. Conclusions: We conclude that SCT has a long-term impact on such quality of life issues as fatigue, sleep disturbances, dyspnea, and financial problems. Physicians tend to overestimate quality of life in their patients. With the increasing numbers of patients undergoing transplantation, more attention should be focussed on these issues.