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Health-related quality of life in patients with pancreatic cancer
J Müller-Nordhorn1, S Roll, M Böhmig
1Institute of Social Medicine, Epidemiology and Health Economics, Charité University Medical Center, Berlin, Germany. jacqueline.mueller-nordhorn@charite.de
Background:
Pancreatic cancer is an aggressive cancer with low survival time, with health-related quality of life (HRQoL) being of major importance. The aim of our study was to assess both generic and disease-specific HRQoL in patients with pancreatic cancer.
Methods:
Patients with pancreatic cancer were consecutively included at admission to hospital. HRQoL was determined with the disease-specific European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) and generic EuroQoL (EQ-5D) health status instruments. Scores of patients were compared to those of norm populations. The association of symptoms with overall HRQoL was analysed using linear regression.
Results:
A total of 45 patients with pancreatic cancer were included. The mean age was 64 years, 53% were females. Of all patients, 44% had metastases at the time of admission. HRQoL was significantly impaired for most EORTC and EQ-5D scales in comparison to norm populations. Symptoms of fatigue (-0.34 regression coefficient; 95% CI -0.63, -0.11) and pain (-0.21; 95% CI -0.39, -0.02) were significantly associated with impaired overall HRQoL.
Conclusions:
HRQoL was severely impaired in patients with pancreatic cancer. Symptom control and palliative care appear to be of particular importance.
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Assessment:
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Pancreatitis is the inflammation of the pancreas, which occurs when the immune system becomes active and causes swelling, pain, and disruptions in organ function. Pancreatitis can manifest as either an acute or chronic condition.
Acute pancreatitis arises suddenly and lasts for a brief duration, while chronic pancreatitis is a long-term affliction...