Quality of life of patients with lung cancer

Abstract

Lung cancer is the major cause of oncologic-related death worldwide. Due to delayed diagnosis, 5-year survival rate accounts for only 15%. Treatment includes surgery, adjuvant chemotherapy, and radiation therapy; however, it is burdened by many side effects. Progress of the disease, severity of its symptoms, and side effects decrease significantly the quality of life (QoL) in those patients. The level of self-assessed QoL helps in predicting survival, which is especially important among patients receiving palliative care. Patients assess their functioning in five dimensions (physical, psychological, cognitive, social, and life roles), severity of symptoms, financial problems, and overall QoL. The QoL in lung cancer patients is lower than in healthy population and patients suffering from other malignancies. It is affected by the severity and the number of symptoms such as fatigue, loss of appetite, dyspnea, cough, pain, and blood in sputum, which are specific for lung tumors. Fatigue and respiratory problems reduce psychological dimension of QoL, while sleep problems reduce cognitive functioning. Physical dimension (related to growing disability) decreases in most of the patients. Also, most of them are unable to play their family and social roles. The disease is a frequent reason of irritation, distress, and depression. Management of the disease symptoms may improve QoL. Controlling the level of fatigue, pulmonary rehabilitation, and social and spiritual support are recommended. Early introduction of tailored palliative treatment is a strategy of choice for improvement of QoL in lung cancer patients.

Factors influencing the psychology and quality of life in lung cancer patients

“… 11 The Quality of Life Questionnaire (QLQ-C30) was used to assess the QOL. 12 In the questions regarding QOL, the answers are graded on the scale of 1-7, with the ascending values indicating increasing QOL. 6 To facilitate the analysis, the points were standardized on the scale of 1 to 100 and assessed according to a 4-degree Likert scale, namely, 0–25 points indicated “very low QOL,” 26–50 points indicated “low QOL,” 51–75 points indicated “high QOL,” and 76–100 points indicated “very high QOL.…”

The desire to hasten death in advanced cancer patients at a Mexican palliative care service

“…Patients with advanced cancer can experience physical, psychological, social, and spiritual distress as a consequence of their illness and treatments (Allende-Pérez & Verástegui-Avilés, 2013) that affect their overall quality of life (Polanski, Jankowska-Polanska, Rosinczuk, Chabowski, & Szymanska-Chabowska, 2016). This population often has multiple forms of suffering and is prone to express ideas of death and suicide (Ballard, Pao, Henderson, Lee et al, 2008;Zhong, Li, Lv, Tian, Liu, et al, 2017), requesting euthanasia or assisted suicide.…”

Impact of marital status during diagnosis on cancer-caused specific survival in acute myeloid leukemia patients: a case-control and population-based study

“…Pessimism is another negative mediator between marital status and adherence to therapeutic approaches. Patients with depression generally undergo authoritative treatment less often and thus would display poor survival outcome [ 36 - 38 ]. With the change of marital status, the patient situation appears to become more complicated.…”