Experiences with health care and health-related quality of life of patients with hematologic malignancies in Mexico

Abstract

<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title> <jats:p>Background: In Mexico, patients with hematologic malignancies (HMs) are characterized by being at high risk and advanced stages at diagnosis and by having a low cure rate; yet information on their experiences with health care and health-related quality of life (HRQL) is scarce. We aimed to evaluate experiences with health care and HRQL of patients with HMs and the association between these patient-reported measures. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional survey in two public oncology hospitals in Mexico City. The study included outpatient cancer patients aged ≥18 years with a diagnosis of leukemia, lymphoma, or multiple myeloma. We used a patient-centered quality of cancer care questionnaire to assess patient experiences with receiving 1) timely care; 2) clear information; 3) information for treatment decision-making; 4) care to address biopsychosocial needs; and 5) respectful and coordinated care. We applied the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire (EORTC QLQ-C30) to measure HRQL. We performed a multiple linear regression to evaluate the association between patient-reported experiences (independent variables) and the QLQ-C30 summary score (dependent variable). Results: Of the 515 participating HM patients, 46.6% had lymphoma, 34% leukemia, and 19.4% multiple myeloma; 70.9% were at advanced stages or at high risk. Additionally, 15.1% had anxiety and 12.8% had depression. Over one third (35.9%) reported receiving clear information, 28.5% timely care, 20.6% information for treatment decision-making, 23.7% care that addressed their biopsychosocial needs, and 31% respectful and coordinated care. The mean QLQ-C30 summary score was 71.9 points. Timely care, clear information, and care that addresses biopsychosocial needs were associated with higher HRQL. Conclusions: Health care services for HM patients at public oncology hospitals in Mexico need improvement. Notably, providing timely care, clear information, and care that addresses patients’ biopsychosocial needs can increase the likelihood of better HRQL. Health care providers should measure and improve the experiences of HM patients with health care.</jats:p>

Illness uncertainty, self‐perceived burden and quality of life in patients with chronic myeloid leukaemia: A cross‐sectional study

“…Additionally, illness uncertainty was related to more negative emotions (Cui et al, 2020); this may have a negative effect on QoL. Receiving clear information on disease and therapy has been reported to be associated with better QoL (Doubova et al, 2020). Our findings provide evidence that illness uncertainty should be recognised as an important factor to improve QoL in patients with CML.…”

Association of supportive care needs and quality of patient‐centered cancer care with depression in women with breast and cervical cancer in Mexico

“…The categories consisted of the following: without SC‐needs (≤2.0) and with unmet SC‐needs (>2); without PCC‐quality (<3.0) and with PCC‐quality (≥3). In addition, we performed a sensitivity analysis with a cut‐off value of the 75th percentile of domain scores for SC‐needs and PCC‐quality variables to distinguish patients with high SC‐needs and high PCC‐quality 17,18 …”

“…It promotes multidisciplinary, coordinated, continuous, and respectful care, and the sharing of information for decision‐making 14,15 . It is associated with higher patient satisfaction, decreased supportive care needs, and higher quality of life 16‐18 . However, information on the quality of patient‐centered cancer care (PCC‐quality) of women with breast and cervical cancer is scarce, even as PCC‐quality may be key to timely detection and personalized treatment of depression in this population.…”