PATIENT REPORTED QUALITY OF LIFE (QOL) AMONG ADULTS ADMITTED FOR ONCOLOGY CARE IN ABU DHABI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES (UAE)

D.D. Bayquen¹, A. Thrush²

¹Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi, Inpatient Therapies, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, ²Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi, Inpatient Therapies and Research Department, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

Background: Patient-reported outcome measures (PROM) are recommended in best practice, however, literature to date does not report QoL among people with cancer in the UAE, and the rate of QoL assessment by physical therapists (PTs) in the UAE appears low.

Purpose: This report’s purpose is to describe the QoL of adults admitted to a tertiary care hospital for specialized oncology management through the use of the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) Quality of Life Questionnaire (QLQ-C30). Additionally, it seeks to determine whether relationships exist between the QLQ-C30 and age, gender, Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) score, measures of functional status, and frailty.

Methods: The QLQ-C30 is a PROM which was chosen due to its comprehensive nature, psychometrics, and presence in current literature. QLQ-C30 provides a global health status score, five functional scale scores, and nine symptom scale scores. Scores range from 0 to 100, with higher scores representing greater QoL and function, or greater presence of symptoms. PTs administered QLQ-C30 on evaluation or as soon as able in follow-up sessions, from March to June, 2022. Physical function was measured through the Functional Status Score for the ICU (FSS-ICU) and ECOG, and frailty with the Clinical Frailty Scale (CFS) for patients age ≥60.

Results: Eighty patients were enrolled with a median age of 61 (45, 68), 60% female, and 73% Emirati nationals. The most common cancer groups were gastrointestinal (40%), blood (20%), gynecologic and genitourinary (12.5%), and head and neck (8.75%). All ECOG scores were represented in the cohort, with the majority (73%) scoring 2 (ambulatory and capable of all self-care, unable to carry out any work activities).
Participants had a median global score of 42 (33, 58). Patients functioned lowest in the role and social domains and highest in the cognitive. The most problematic symptoms were pain and fatigue, and the least problematic were diarrhea and financial difficulties. The 40-49 and 50-59 age group had the best overall global score, and QoL decreased with every 10-year increment thereafter. Men and women had identical global scores, however men reported higher function across all domains. With each increase in ECOG score, there was a decrease in global score. An inverse relationship was observed between global score and both function and frailty.

Conclusions: This population of patients experienced low QoL. Findings from the QLQ-C30 demonstrated expected correlations with age, physical function, and frailty. Important patterns emerged that indicate which functions and symptoms are most and least prevalent – presenting PTs with the opportunity to design an oncology service that meets the unique needs of this population. The authors aspire to use the QLQ-C30 across settings – from prevention, pre-, peri-, post-treatment, and survivorship – in order to monitor QoL and provide the best individualized care possible.

Implications: PTs working with patients under oncology care should be aware of the QoL profile of this population. PT interventions may alleviate some of the most critically affected domains and symptoms – pain, fatigue, physical condition, and social participation. Prompt referral to other specialties should also be made according to QLQ-C30 findings.

Funding acknowledgements: None

Keywords:
Oncology
Quality of Life
Patient-Reported Outcome Measures

Topics:
Oncology, HIV & palliative care
Research methodology, knowledge translation & implementation science
Professional practice: other

Did this work require ethics approval? No

Reason: Reviewed by Institutional Ethics Committee and granted a waiver as it is a quality improvement project.