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Health-related quality of life of significant others of patients with malignant CNS versus non-CNS tumors: a comparative study

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Abstract

It is often assumed that brain tumor patients’ significant others (SOs: partners, other family members or close friends) may face greater stress than those of patients with malignancies not involving the central nervous system (CNS), due to progressive changes in neurological and cognitive functioning. We compared health-related quality of life (HRQOL) of SOs of patients with high-grade glioma (HGG) and low-grade glioma (LGG) with that of SOs of patients with non-CNS tumors with similar prognosis and at a similar phase in the disease trajectory (i.e. non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and low-grade hematological malignancies (NHL/CLL), respectively). HRQOL of SOs and patients was assessed using the Short Form-36 (SF-36) Health Survey. Patients’ neurological functioning was indexed and they underwent comprehensive neurocognitive testing. SOs of 213 LGG patients, 99 NHL/CLL patients, 55 HGG patients and 29 NSCLC patients participated. The SOs of LGG and NHL/CLL patients reported similar levels of HRQOL. SOs of HGG patients reported significantly lower mental health scores (MCS; p = 0.041) and social functioning (p = 0.028) than those of NSCLC patients. Mental health scores (MCS) of HGG and NSCLC patients were associated significantly with the mental health of their SOs (p = 0.013 and p < 0.001, respectively). Surprisingly, HGG patients’ cognitive and neurological functioning were not predictive of SOs’ mental health at the multivariate level. SOs of patients with highly malignant CNS tumors in the acute phase are at increased risk of compromised HRQOL compared to those of patients with systemic tumors without CNS involvement and a comparable life expectancy.

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Acknowledgments

We thank the neurologists, neuro-oncologists, neurosurgeons, haematologists, pulmonologists, and radiation oncologists from VU University Medical Center, The Netherlands Cancer Institute/Antoni van Leeuwenhoek Hospital, Slotervaart Hospital, Academic Medical Center (Amsterdam), Leiden University Medical Center (Leiden); Medical Center Haaglanden, HAGA Hospital (The Hague); Erasmus University Medical Center (Rotterdam); St Elisabeth Hospital (Tilburg); University Medical Center Maastricht (Maastricht); Hospital De Wever (Heerlen); University Medical Center Utrecht (Utrecht); Sint Antonius Hospital (Nieuwegein); University Medical Center Sint Radboud (Nijmegen); Groningen University Medical Center, Martini Hospital (Groningen) for permission to include their patient-partner dyads in the study.

Conflict of interest

The authors report no conflict of interest.

Funding

This study was supported by Grant No. VU96-1155 from the Dutch Cancer Society.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Medical Psychology, VU University Medical Center, PO Box 7057, 1007 MB, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    Florien W. Boele & Martin Klein

  2. Department of Neurology, VU University Medical Center, PO Box 7057, 1007 MB, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    Jan J. Heimans, Tjeerd J. Postma & Jaap C. Reijneveld

  3. Division of Psychosocial Research and Epidemiology, Netherlands Cancer Institute, PO Box 90203, 1006 BE, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    Neil K. Aaronson

  4. Department of Neurology, Medical Center Haaglanden, PO Box 432, 2501 CK, The Hague, The Netherlands

    Martin J. B. Taphoorn

Authors
  1. Florien W. Boele
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  2. Jan J. Heimans
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  3. Neil K. Aaronson
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  4. Martin J. B. Taphoorn
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  5. Tjeerd J. Postma
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  6. Jaap C. Reijneveld
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  7. Martin Klein
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Correspondence to Florien W. Boele.

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Boele, F.W., Heimans, J.J., Aaronson, N.K. et al. Health-related quality of life of significant others of patients with malignant CNS versus non-CNS tumors: a comparative study. J Neurooncol 115, 87–94 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11060-013-1198-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11060-013-1198-z

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