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Can anorexia predict patient satisfaction with quality of life in advanced cancer?

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Abstract

Goals

Anorexia is the second most common symptom after fatigue in patients with advanced cancer. We quantified the relationship between anorexia and patient satisfaction with quality of life (QoL) in advanced cancer.

Materials and methods

A case series of 954 cancer patients treated at the Cancer Treatment Centers of America. Anorexia was measured using the QLQ-C30 loss of appetite/anorexia subscale. Patient satisfaction with QoL was measured using the Ferrans and Powers Quality of Life Index (QLI). The relationship between anorexia and QLI was evaluated using multivariate analysis of variance and multiple regression analysis.

Main results

Of 954 patients, 579 were females and 375 males with the median age at presentation of 56 years. Of these patients, 66% had failed prior treatment. Most common cancers were breast (26%), colorectal (19%), and lung (16%). After controlling for the effects of age, treatment history, and other QLQ-C30 symptom subscales, every 10 unit increase in anorexia was statistically significantly associated with 0.18 unit decline in QLI health and physical function score.

Conclusion

We found that anorexia is significantly correlated with patient satisfaction with health and physical function in advanced cancer. Future studies should evaluate the impact of integrative cancer care services on patient satisfaction with QoL.

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Acknowledgments

This study was funded by the Cancer Treatment Centers of America®. We thank Thom Wodek, Tanya Jordan, and Jody Wehrwein, our clinical research coordinators, for their contributions in the administration of the quality of life questionnaires to our patients and subsequent data entry.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Cancer Treatment Centers of America®, Midwestern Regional Medical Center, 2610 Sheridan Road, Zion, IL, 60099, USA

    Christopher G. Lis, Digant Gupta & James F. Grutsch

Authors
  1. Christopher G. Lis
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  2. Digant Gupta
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  3. James F. Grutsch
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Christopher G. Lis.

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Lis, C.G., Gupta, D. & Grutsch, J.F. Can anorexia predict patient satisfaction with quality of life in advanced cancer?. Support Care Cancer 17, 129–135 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-008-0447-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-008-0447-8

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