An Appraisal of the Quality of Life of Gynaecological Cancer Patients at a Teaching Hospital in Southern Nigeria

Background: As newer treatment modalities improve survival; quality of life (QoL) issues takes on increasing importance for survivors. Adequate knowledge is required for psychosocial interventions and designing programmes aimed at improving the QoL of cancer patients.

Objectives: To assess the QoL and its association with socio-demographic characteristics and disease-related variables among gynaecological cancer patients.

Methods: A prospective cross-sectional study was carried out between January 1, and December 31, 2023, among gynaecological cancer patients. A semi-structured questionnaire was used to obtain socio-demographic, reproductive, and clinical characteristics. The European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer QoL Score 30 (EORTC QLQ-C30) version 3 was used to evaluate their perceptions about QoL. The QoL domains, socio-demographic and clinical variables were analyzed with SPSS 25. The association between socio-demographic and clinical factors with QoL was analyzed using one-way ANOVA. P value of ≤ 0.05 was considered significant.

Results: The mean age was 55.29±10.77 years, only 26 (53.1%) have had a pap test. Cervical cancer was the most prevalent gynaecological cancer 31 (63.2%), many 27 (55.1%) of them presented with stage III disease. The mean QoL score was 68.20±23.61. Respondents had good level of physical (81.77 ±16.43), cognitive (78.91 ±25.18), and social functioning (71.43 ±27.85) with high mean scores ≥ 66.7 and an average level of role (66.67±24.76) and emotional functioning (64.79 ±26.53) with mean score between 33.3-66.6. The mean pain score was 43.88±35.95. The major problem experienced was financial difficulties (72.11±33.57). A significant association was observed between QoL and age (p=0.027), occupational status (p=0.024), type of cancer (p=0.001), stage of cancer (p=0.007), length of diagnosis (p=0.033) and number of chemotherapies received (p=0.001).

Conclusions: As cancer incidence is increasing and post treatment survival is improving among cancer patients, the focus is now on their quality of life.