Health-related quality of life in glioma patients in China

BACKGROUND: Health-related quality of life (HRQOL) has been increasingly emphasized in cancer patients. There are no reports comparing baseline HRQOL of different subgroups of glioma patients prior to surgery. METHODS: HRQOL assessments by the standard Chinese version of the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Core Questionnaire 30 (EORTC QLQ-C30, version 3.0), the Mini-Mental State Examination and Karnofsky Performance Status were obtained from glioma patients prior to surgery. RESULTS: Ninety-two pathologically confirmed glioma patients were recruited. There were 84.8% patients with emotional impairment, 75% with social and cognitive impairment, 70.7% with physical impairment, and 50% with role impairment. Eighty-two percent of patients reported fatigue symptoms, 72.8% reported pain, 50% reported appetite loss, 39.1% reported insomnia, and 36.9% reported nausea/vomiting, whereas other symptoms (dyspnea, diarrhea, constipation) in the QLQ-C30 were reported by fewer than 30% of patients. Fatigue and pain symptoms and all "functioning" scales were strongly correlated with global health status/quality of life (QoL). Fatigue was strongly related to all functioning scales, pain, appetite loss, and global health status/QoL. No difference in baseline HRQOL prior to surgery was reported between females and males, among different lesion locations, or between normal- and abnormal-cognition subgroups of glioma patients. Age, KPS, WHO grade, and tumor recurrence significantly affected HRQOL in glioma patients. CONCLUSIONS: These data provided the baseline HRQOL in glioma patients prior to surgery in China. Most pre-surgery glioma patients indicated emotional, social, cognitive, physical, and role impairment. Fatigue, pain, appetite loss, insomnia, and nausea/vomiting were common in these patients. The fatigue and pain symptoms and all types of functioning strongly affected global health status/QoL. Old age, worse performance status, WHO grade IV and tumor recurrence had deleterious effects on HRQOL.