QUALITY OF LIFE IN HEMATOLOGICAL PATIENTS IN THE POST-COVID ERA

OBJECTIVE: Currently, restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic have been lifted in many countries. However, the pandemic could still have impact on the current quality of life of patients, especially oncological ones. Our study aimed to determine the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the functioning of patients with hematological diseases. METHODOLOGY: This is a prospective survey-based study. We used the EORTC QoL questionnaire in the population consisting of 32 patients: 22 with lymphoma (69%), 4 with hairy cell leukemia (13%), 3 with myelofibrosis (9%), 1 with acute myeloid leukemia (3%), 1 with chronic myeloid leukemia (3%), 1 with non-oncologic disease (3%). The median age was 50.5 years (ranged 21 – 76). The questionnaires were collected between May and June 2022. Statistical analysis was performed using R software (R version 4.0.3.). RESULTS: 41% of patients had a COVID-19 infection confirmed by PCR test. 38% of them were hospitalized, 80% of whom required oxygen therapy. Quality of life was 62.5 (16.7 – 83.3), functioning scales: physical functioning 86.7, role functioning 66.7, emotional functioning 83.3, cognitive functioning 83.3, social functioning 66.7; symptom: fatigue 33.3, insomnia 33.3. Patients who required oxygen therapy had higher scores on the financial impact scale than those who didn't, 66.7 vs 0, p = 0.0261. CONCLUSION: Role and social functioning was the worst item among functioning scales. Women had significantly higher social functioning than men. Fatigue and insomnia were the most burdensome symptoms assessed on the symptom scales. No significant differences were found in scores of EORTC between patients who reported COVID infection and those who didn't. The limitation of this study is a relatively small research group. The future direction is to perform a similar analysis on a larger population.