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How much time is left? Associations between estimations of patient life expectancy and quality of life in patients and caregivers

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Abstract

Purpose

It is unclear whether life-expectancy estimates of patients with advanced cancer and their caregivers are associated with patient existential, social, or emotional quality of life (QOL) or caregiver emotional QOL.

Methods

Patients with advanced cancer and their caregivers (n = 162 dyads) reported estimates of the chance the patient would live for 2 years or more from 0% (most pessimistic) to 100% (most optimistic). They also completed self-report measures of QOL.

Results

Adjusting for sociodemographic confounds and multiple comparisons, more pessimistic caregiver and patient life-expectancy estimates were associated with worse caregiver emotional QOL and worse patient existential QOL. Discrepancies between patient and caregiver estimates were not associated with patient or caregiver QOL.

Conclusions

Pessimistic life-expectancy estimates are associated with worse existential QOL in patients and worse emotional QOL in caregivers. Prospective research to establish causal relationships is needed, and interventions to address the relationship between beliefs about life expectancy and existential and emotional QOL should be considered. Providing these interventions to patients and caregivers receiving information on life expectancy may mitigate the negative impact of life-expectancy information on patient existential quality of life.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Weill Cornell Medicine, 525 E. 68th St., Box 39, New York, NY, 10065, USA

    Kelly M. Trevino, Paul K. Maciejewski, Megan Johnson Shen & Holly G. Prigerson

  2. University of Rochester Medical Center, 601 Elmwood Ave, Rochester, NY, 14642, USA

    Supriya Mohile, Charles Kamen, Ronald M. Epstein & Paul Duberstein

Authors
  1. Kelly M. Trevino
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  2. Paul K. Maciejewski
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  3. Megan Johnson Shen
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  4. Holly G. Prigerson
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  5. Supriya Mohile
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  8. Paul Duberstein
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Correspondence to Kelly M. Trevino.

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Trevino, K.M., Maciejewski, P.K., Shen, M.J. et al. How much time is left? Associations between estimations of patient life expectancy and quality of life in patients and caregivers. Support Care Cancer 27, 2487–2496 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-018-4533-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-018-4533-2

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