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Updated: Aug 29, 2026
Quantifying Cognitive Decrements Caused by Cranial Radiotherapy
Published on: October 18, 2011
Impaired quality of life in patients commencing radiotherapy for cancer
Monika Janda1, Beth Newman, Andreas Obermair
1Department of Radiotherapy and Radiobiology, Medical School, University of Vienna, General Hospital, Vienna, Austria. monikaj@qcfepi.org.au
Background:
This study tested a three-item questionnaire to measure global quality of life (QOL) and pain in patients commencing radiotherapy, based on items from the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) QLQ-C30 instrument.
Patients And Methods:
In a pretest, the EORTC QLQ-C30 and the three-item short questionnaire were administered to 100 patients, yielding similar global QOL and pain scores. After the pretest, the three-item questionnaire was administered to 1,837 patients prior to first radiotherapy treatment.
Results:
254 (13.8%) patients with impaired QOL were identified. These patients had a mean global QOL score of 32.6 compared to 72.4 (p < 0.001) found in patients with satisfactory QOL. Patients with impaired QOL were also more likely < 60 years and treated for lung, gastrointestinal or head and neck cancer or advanced, metastatic cancer.
Conclusion:
This brief questionnaire addresses important aspects of QOL, is feasible to use in a clinical setting and therefore represents a potentially useful tool for detecting those patients who may benefit from further evaluation and/or psychosocial support.
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