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Correlates of health-related quality of life in upper aerodigestive tract cancer patients

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Abstract

Reflecting a limited understanding of the definition and determinants of health-related quality of life (HRQoL), the majority of research in this field has concentrated upon the effect of disease- and treatment-related variables. That work specifically investigating HRQoL among upper aerodigestive tract (UADT) cancer patients is no exception to this observation. Treating subject-related and non-subject-related variables separately, the aim of this study was to investigate predictors of global HRQoL rating in a sample of UADT cancer patients, concentrating upon the relative importance of sociodemographic and clinical variables. A cross-sectional study design was used with a sample of 188 UADT cancer patients. Global HRQoL was assessed using the EORTC QLQ-C30 instrument, global domain (global QoL). Other study variables were collected by subject interview and chart review. Two multivariate regression models were independently developed, containing, respectively, subject-rated and non-sunbject-rated variables. In the model containing subject-rated predictors of global QoL, emotional, breathing, physical, financial, pain and appetite problems were significant predictors (F = 14.6, p < 0.0001 and r2 = 0.54). Among non-subject-rated sociodemographic and clinical variables tested, unemployment, older age, female gender, being dentate and a more advanced disease stage predicted worse global QoL rating, while oral as opposed to pharyngeal or laryngeal cancer predicted a better global QoL rating (F = 5.1, p < 0.0001 and r2 = 0.21). In the latter model, a greater proportion of the variance was explained by sociodemographic variables than by clinical variables.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Dentistry, McGill University, Montreal, Canada

    P.J. Allison, S. Wood-Dauphinee & J.S. Feine

  2. Community Dental Health Services Research Unit, Toronto, University Toronto, Canada

    D. Locker & M. Black

Authors
  1. P.J. Allison
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  2. D. Locker
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  3. S. Wood-Dauphinee
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  4. M. Black
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  5. J.S. Feine
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Allison, P., Locker, D., Wood-Dauphinee, S. et al. Correlates of health-related quality of life in upper aerodigestive tract cancer patients. Qual Life Res 7, 713–722 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1008880816543

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