Health‐related quality of life around the time of diagnosis in patients with bladder cancer

Abstract

ObjectivesTo quantify the health‐related quality of life (HRQoL) of patients with bladder cancer around the time of diagnosis and to test the hypotheses of a two‐factor model for the HRQoL questionnaire QLQ‐C30.MethodsFrom participants in the Bladder Cancer Prognoses Programme, a multicentre cohort study, sociodemographic data were collected using semi‐structured face‐to‐face interviews. Answers to the QLQ‐C30 were transformed into a scale from 0 to 100. HRQoL data were analysed in multivariate analyses. The hypothesized two‐factor (Physical and Mental Health) domain structure of the QLQ‐C30 was also tested with confirmatory factor analyses (CFA).ResultsA total of 1160 participants (78%) completed the questionnaire after initial visual diagnosis and before pathological confirmation. Despite non‐muscle‐invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC) being associated with a higher HRQoL than carcinoma invading bladder muscle, only the domain Role Functioning was clinically significantly better in patients with NMIBC. Age, gender, bladder cancer stage and comorbidity all had a significant influence on QLQ‐C30 scores. The CFA showed an overall good fit of the hypothesized two‐factor model.ConclusionThis study identified a baseline reference value for HRQoL for patients with bladder cancer, which allows better evaluation of any changes in HRQoL as disease progresses or after treatment. In addition, a two‐factor (Physical and Mental Health) model was developed for the QLQ‐C30.

Quality of life and anxiety in patients with non-muscle invasive bladder cancer: a prospective study

“…Similarly, in a study of 1160 BCs, Yu et al, reported an improved physical component in young and healthy, single males, that did not smoke and were diagnosed with a NMIBC. Moreover, gender, age, tumor stage and comorbidity status, also, affected preoperative mental health (3). Although various patient characteristics interacted with time QoL measurements, none of them was an independent QoL affecting factor.…”

“…hematuria, orchitis, cystitis, fever and sepsis (20). Besides these commonly reported adverse events, the impact of the initial diagnosis and overall management of the NMIBC patients on the QoL plays important role and has been recently addressed in several studies (3). Besides a considerable economic cost, NMIBC has a significant impact on a patient's QoL.…”

“…The majority of the new BC cases are diagnosed as non-muscle invasive BC (NMIBC) (3). Current approaches for the NMIBC management is based on the transurethral resection of the tumor followed by a strict follow-up schedule that may include intravesical administration of chemotherapeutic or immune-modifying regimens.…”

“…Additionally, NIMBC intravesical treatment is associated with several quality of life (QoL) reducing adverse events, mainly lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) (8). Several series attempted to evaluate factors of the detrimental effect of the NMIBC therapeutic approaches on the psychological and physical health, with methodological issues (3, 5, 6, 9). The application of generic and widely validated tools, such as SF-36 and STAI-Y, allows for the overall assessment of the QoL and anxiety, respectively (10).…”

Corrigendum

“…In the published article by Yu et al . [1], the authors identified a mistake. The definition of scoring of the ‘symptoms domain’ should have been reversed, that is ‘0 is worst symptoms and 100 is no symptoms’.…”