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Health-related quality of life among Indigenous Australians diagnosed with cancer

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Abstract

Purpose

Health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and associated factors were assessed among 155 Indigenous Australian adult cancer patients 6 months post-diagnosis.

Methods

The Assessment of Quality of Life-4D Questionnaire was used to assess HRQoL. Differences in the median utility score among subgroups of interest were examined using nonparametric tests. Factors associated with excellent HRQoL were assessed through logistic regression.

Results

Participants’ mean age was 52 years (range 20–78), and the majority were female (60 %), unemployed (72 %), and recruited from outpatients clinics (64 %). Breast cancer (27 %) was the most common diagnosis. The median HRQoL score was 0.62; 14 % of participants reported excellent HRQoL (>0.90). After adjusting for age, admission status, and treatment, excellent HRQoL was more likely among participants of Torres Strait Islander origin [adjusted odds ratio (AOR) 3.68; 95 % CI 1.23–11.01], those living in regional areas (AOR 5.59; 95 % CI 1.42–22.06), and those whose main language spoken at home was not English (AOR 3.60; 95 % CI 1.08–11.99) and less likely among those reporting less contact with Indigenous people (AOR 0.23; 95 % CI 0.68–0.81).

Conclusion

Assessing HRQoL is important to identifying and improving the length and quality of cancer survivorship, especially in groups that have significantly poorer cancer outcomes, such as Indigenous Australians. Acknowledging the study’s observational nature, we found HRQoL was lower than reported for other Australians, and we identified some socio-demographic factors that were associated with excellent HRQoL. Such assessments are an important component of identifying and evaluating appropriate interventions to improve the health and well-being of Indigenous cancer patients.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank the staff and Indigenous patients of the participating hospitals for their assistance and cooperation in carrying out this study and Dr. Christina Bernardes for assistance and project management.

Funding

This work was supported by the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC #1004643]. The views expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not reflect the views of the NHMRC. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. It was undertaken under the auspices of the Centre of Research Excellence in Discovering Indigenous Strategies to improve Cancer Outcomes Via Engagement, Research Translation and Training (DISCOVER-TT CRE, funded by the National Health and Medical Research Council #1041111), and the Strategic Research Partnership to improve cancer control for Indigenous Australians (STREP Ca-CIndA, funded through Cancer Council NSW (SRP 13-01) with supplementary funding from Cancer Council WA). JC was funded by an Australian National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Research Fellowship (#1058244), V Yf He was supported by University Postgraduate Research Scholarship by Charles Darwin University, PCV and MJ were funded by separate NHMRC Career Development Fellowships (#1083090 and #1045247, respectively), SKC’s contribution was supported by the Department of Health through the Rural Clinical Training and Support programme. The views expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the funding agencies.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Menzies School of Health Research, Charles Darwin University, Brisbane, Australia

    G. Garvey, J. Cunningham, V. Yf He & P. C. Valery

  2. School of Public Health and Social Work, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia

    M. Janda

  3. Cancer Council Queensland, Brisbane, Australia

    P. Baade

  4. College of Medicine and Dentistry, James Cook University and Townsville Hospital, Townsville, Australia

    S. Sabesan

  5. University of Newcastle School of Medicine and Public Health, Newcastle, Australia

    J. H. Martin & M. Fay

  6. Faculty of Health, University of Technology Sydney, Sydney, Australia

    J. Adams

  7. Rural Clinical School, School of Medicine, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia

    S. Kondalsamy-Chennakesavan

  8. QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Brisbane, Australia

    P. C. Valery

Authors
  1. G. Garvey
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  2. J. Cunningham
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  3. V. Yf He
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  4. M. Janda
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  8. M. Fay
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  9. J. Adams
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  10. S. Kondalsamy-Chennakesavan
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  11. P. C. Valery
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to G. Garvey.

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Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no relevant conflicts of interest.

Ethical approval

This study was approved by the Charles Darwin University, Northern Territory Department of Health and Menzies School of Health Research, QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute Human Ethics Committees, and the Human Ethics Committees of the four participating hospitals. The study was conducted according to the Helsinki ethical principles of research.

Informed consent

All participants provided informed consent prior to their participation in the research.

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Garvey, G., Cunningham, J., He, V.Y. et al. Health-related quality of life among Indigenous Australians diagnosed with cancer. Qual Life Res 25, 1999–2008 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11136-016-1233-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11136-016-1233-6

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