Quality of life in patients with chronic pancreatitis - Possibilities of measurement of the phenomenon in research

Abstract

To discover which of the measurement tools were used for the assessment of quality of life (QoL) in patients with chronic pancreatitis (CP); to search for a specific tool that was validated and standardized directly for CP; to summarize the main areas of symptomatology that dominated the decrease overall in QoL in patients with CP. Methods: The method of the overall conceptualization approach was the analysis, comparison, critical discussion and summarization of the available results of studies researched between 2000 and 2014 in relevant databases. The analyzed studies were included in the selective sample according to predefined criteria. This paper presents the results of a partial objective regarding a comprehensive research project. Results: The identified tools include the following questionnaires: SQUALA (1 study); SF-36 (4 studies); SF-12 (6 studies); EORTC QLQ-C30 in the form of QLQ-PAN26 (3 studies). A specific and new tool is PANQOLI (1 study). The most significant factor of decreased QoL included pain; other factors were: chronic diarrhoea, digestion issues, diabetes mellitus, severity and length of disease, number of relapses and comorbidities, loss of job, unemployment, early retirement, financial issues, sleeping issues, fatigue. On the contrary, the aetiology had no effect on QoL; the same applies to surgery or endoscopic therapies. Conclusion: To assess QoL the following questionnaires were used: subjective QoL questionnaires specific for chronic diseases, and a questionnaire originally intended for patients with tumour diseases. This shows a degree of interest in the area of QoL in CP patients. The sum of the findings can be used for a comparison between domestic results and to identify the dominant CP symptoms. A great challenge is the standardization and linguistic validation of the PANQOLI questionnaire in the Czech sociocultural environment.

Up-To-Date View on the Clinical Manifestations and Complications of Chronic Pancreatitis

“…In the United European Gastroenterology evidence based guidelines for the diagnosis and therapy of CP (HaPanEU), quality of life including pain should be assessed through validated questionnaires (SF-12, SF-36, EORTC QLQ C-30, GIQLI). However, effort should be point at improvement of variable factors as psychological status, tobacco, alcohol consumption and nutritional deficiencies in respect to improve QoL and further to delay disease progression, using therapeutic education and physical rehabilitation, behavioral support and medication [6,99,[184][185][186][187][188][189][190].…”

Long Term Follow-up Results of Surgical Management of Chronic Pancreatitis

“…Complications related to chronic pancreatitis include diabetes mellitus, pseudocysts and obstructions of the biliary duct. The most common symptoms, which usually deteriorate quality of life of patients, are abdominal pain, digestion issues, steatorrhoea, nausea, jaundice and fatigue (4).…”

“…Pain is the leading symptom of chronic pancreatitis (4). It is the most significant factor for decreased quality of life of patients (4).…”

“…Pain is the leading symptom of chronic pancreatitis (4). It is the most significant factor for decreased quality of life of patients (4). Therefore, the seemly pain management is the main issue in order to improve the quality of life in chronic pancreatitis patients (2).…”

“…Therefore, the seemly pain management is the main issue in order to improve the quality of life in chronic pancreatitis patients (2). Job loss, early retirement, financial issues, sleeping issues and fatigue are also associated with chronic pancreatitis and contribute to decreased quality of life (4).…”