Quality of life of older gynecologic oncology patients at the initiation of chemotherapy

Nurs Open. 2023 Oct;10(10):6749-6757. doi: 10.1002/nop2.1921. Epub 2023 Jun 19.

Abstract

Aim: To evaluate older gynecologic oncology patients' quality of life (QOL) at the initiation of chemotherapy and compare their QOL scores with a female age-matched general population (GP) sample.

Design: Cross-sectional.

Methods: Older (n = 122) gynecologic oncology patients completed the European Organization for the Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire (QLQ-C30) that evaluates global health and five functional scales (range from 0 to 100). Differences in QOL scores between our sample and the GP were evaluated using one-sample t-tests and effect sizes were calculated using Cohen's d.

Results: Patients' mean age was 70.7 years (±6.6). Mean scores for the function scales ranged from 58.5 (±31.1) for role function to 86.1 (±17.0) for cognitive function. Compared to the GP, our sample reported significantly lower scores for global health status, social, role and physical functioning, and a significantly higher score for cognitive functioning. No differences were found in emotional functioning scores.

Patient or public contribution: No patient or public contribution.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Aged
  • Cognition
  • Cross-Sectional Studies
  • Female
  • Genital Neoplasms, Female* / drug therapy
  • Health Status
  • Humans
  • Quality of Life* / psychology