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Quality of Life in Patients with Non-melanoma Skin Cancer: Implications for Healthcare Education Services and Supports

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Abstract

Non-melanoma skin cancer (NMSC) is the most prevalent type of cancer among Caucasian populations worldwide. The purpose of this work was to measure quality of life (QOL) of the patients with diagnosis of basal cell carcinoma (BCC) and squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) who were referred to our cancer clinic. During 1 year, 95 patients were selected and asked to complete Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI) questionnaires. Ninety-five patients with NMSC (74 men and 21 women) with mean age of 64.6 ± 12.5 participated in this cross-sectional study. From 95 patients, 75 had BCC, 15 had SCC, and 5 patients had both SCC and BCC. The total DLQI scores of the all participants were between 0 and 16; the mean was 4.1 ± 4.25 and median was 2. Variables which were associated with impaired QOL were marital status (P = 0.03) and tumor location (P = 0.02). By using general dermatology QOL questionnaire, it had been demonstrated that patients with NMSC faced with minimal QOL impairment; also, this handicap was more pronounced in younger patients and singles and patients with tumors located in exposed areas. Our findings demonstrated a need to educate our patients to improve patients’ knowledge about different aspects of disease.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Autoimmune Bullous Disease Research Center, Department of Dermatology, Razi Hospital, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Razi Hospital-Vahdate Eslami Street, Tehran, 1199663911, Iran

    Robabeh Abedini, Maryam Nasimi & Pedram Noormohammad Pour

  2. Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

    Atie Moghtadaie

  3. School of Public Health, Gonabad University of Medical Sciences, Gonabad, Iran

    Hamid Reza Tohidinik

Authors
  1. Robabeh Abedini
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  2. Maryam Nasimi
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  3. Pedram Noormohammad Pour
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  4. Atie Moghtadaie
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  5. Hamid Reza Tohidinik
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Maryam Nasimi.

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This descriptive study was approved by the Ethics Committee of Tehran University of Medical Sciences.

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Abedini, R., Nasimi, M., Noormohammad Pour, P. et al. Quality of Life in Patients with Non-melanoma Skin Cancer: Implications for Healthcare Education Services and Supports. J Canc Educ 34, 755–759 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13187-018-1368-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13187-018-1368-y

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