Objective: Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients surgically treated often experienced a postoperative disability related to the surgery but did not benefit from a long-term survival advantage (postoperative death and relapse). Therefore, improvement of quality of life (QOL) for all NSCLC patients surgically treated is necessary and the assessment of factors influencing the short-term postoperative QOL is required. Therefore, a prospective study to assess the value of the psychological global well being index (PGWBI) to predict short-term postoperative QOL was conducted.
Patients and methods: Prospective study in Academic Hospital's departments of thoracic oncology and surgery. Socio-demographic and clinical characteristics as well as PGWBI scores of 110 NSCLC patients referred for thoracic surgery were prospectively compared to postoperative QOL evaluated by the mean of the EORTC QLQ-C30 and LC13 questionnaires, completed before hospital discharge.
Results: Eighty-four patients completed the postoperative QOL questionnaires. In the univariate analysis, most of the PGWBI scores significantly correlated with the postoperative QOL. Also, patients living alone presented with a significantly higher risk of experiencing a poor postoperative QOL. In the multivariate analysis, patients showing a lower preoperative global health status as evaluated through the PGWBI experienced a statistically significant lower postoperative global QOL (hazard ratio (HR) = 1.39, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.12-1.74, p = 0.003) as well as a reduced physical (HR = 1.32, 95% CI 1.09-1.60, p = 0.004) and emotional (HR = 1.21, 95% CI 1.06-1.39, p = 0.004) functions.
Conclusions: A simple assessment of patients at higher risk of a poor short-term postoperative QOL could be easily performed preoperatively, taking into account certain socio-demographic factors and the results of the QOL assessment using the PGWBI.