Quality of life: perception of lung cancer patients

An investigation was carried out to examine what quality of life means to lung cancer patients. 200 patients with either lung cancer (108) or chronic respiratory disease (92) were interviewed using a short open-ended questionnaire. They were asked to define quality of life in general, identify what they considered to be a good quality of life for themselves and to rank the relative importance attached to each nominated item. A content analysis was carried out and patients' responses were categorised into eight items. These were: ability to do what one wants to do/work, enjoyment of life, family life, financial security, happiness, health, living longer and social life/leisure activities. Of these, health (42%), enjoyment of life (25%) and family life (24%) were the three most nominated items as definition of quality of life in general. Patients perceived a good quality of life for themselves differently. Family life (58%), health (51%) and social life (43%) were found to be the most nominated components of a good quality of life for the patients. Overall, patients ranked family life and health as the first or second most important factors. There were no significant differences between cases and controls. The study results are challenging and serve to remind us that the term quality of life is misused in many studies. Most existing measures do not encompass the wider aspects of quality of life identified here, but rather concentrate on the "health-related" aspects of quality of life. To achieve this, the research into the best ways of measuring and assessing quality of life must continue to seek individual values and preferences and how these can be applied in a simple way in clinical studies.