Health‐related quality of life around the time of diagnosis in patients with bladder cancer

OBJECTIVES: To quantify the health‐related quality of life (HRQoL) of patients with bladder cancer around the time of diagnosis and to test the hypotheses of a two‐factor model for the HRQoL questionnaire QLQ‐C30. METHODS: From participants in the Bladder Cancer Prognoses Programme, a multicentre cohort study, sociodemographic data were collected using semi‐structured face‐to‐face interviews. Answers to the QLQ‐C30 were transformed into a scale from 0 to 100. HRQoL data were analysed in multivariate analyses. The hypothesized two‐factor (Physical and Mental Health) domain structure of the QLQ‐C30 was also tested with confirmatory factor analyses (CFA). RESULTS: A total of 1160 participants (78%) completed the questionnaire after initial visual diagnosis and before pathological confirmation. Despite non‐muscle‐invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC) being associated with a higher HRQoL than carcinoma invading bladder muscle, only the domain Role Functioning was clinically significantly better in patients with NMIBC. Age, gender, bladder cancer stage and comorbidity all had a significant influence on QLQ‐C30 scores. The CFA showed an overall good fit of the hypothesized two‐factor model. CONCLUSION: This study identified a baseline reference value for HRQoL for patients with bladder cancer, which allows better evaluation of any changes in HRQoL as disease progresses or after treatment. In addition, a two‐factor (Physical and Mental Health) model was developed for the QLQ‐C30.