Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Quality of life of women with gynecologic cancer: associated factors

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Archives of Gynecology and Obstetrics Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Objective

To evaluate quality of life (QOL) and identify its associated factors in a cohort of women with gynecologic cancer.

Methods

A cross-sectional study was conducted, including 103 women with cervical or endometrial cancer, aged between 18 and 75 years who were receiving their entire treatment at the institution where the investigation was carried out. QOL was measured by the World Health Organization’s QOL instrument-abbreviated version (WHOQOL-BREF). Clinical and sociodemographic characteristics, in addition to prevalence of cancer-related symptoms prior to radiotherapy were investigated. Bivariate analysis was performed, applying the Mann–Whitney test. Multivariate analysis was used to identify factors associated with QOL.

Results

The mean age of the participants was 56.8 ± 11.6 years. The study included 67 (65%) women with cervical cancer and 36 (35%) women with endometrial cancer. Most participants were at an advanced stage (63.1%). The most common complaints were pain (49.5%) and vaginal bleeding (36.9%). The prevalence of anemia was 22.3%. On multivariate analysis, it was observed that anemia (P = 0.006) and nausea and/or vomiting (P = 0.010) determined impairment in physical domain. Pain negatively influenced physical domain (P = 0.001), overall QOL (P = 0.024), and general health (P = 0.013), while the history of surgery positively affected general health (P = 0.001).

Conclusion

Cancer-related symptoms were factors that most interfered with QOL in women with gynecologic cancer. Therefore, more attention should be focused on identifying these symptoms, adopting measures to minimize their repercussions on QOL.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Parkin DM, Bray F, Ferlay J, Pisani P (2005) Global cancer statistics, 2002. CA Cancer J Clin 55:74–108

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Instituto Nacional de Câncer (National Institute of Cancer) (2006) Incidence of cancer estimate in Brazil 2006. Available at: http://www.inca.gov.br/estimativa/2006/versaofinal.pdf. Accessed 15 Jan 2007

  3. Lutgendorf SK, Anderson B, Ullrich P, Johnsen EL, Buller RE, Sood AK, Sorosky JI, Ritchie J (2002) Quality of life and mood in women with gynecologic cancer: a one year prospective study. Cancer 94:131–140

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Ell K, Sanchez K, Vourlekis B, Lee PJ, Dwight-Johnson M, Lagomasino I, Muderspach L, Russell C (2005) Depression, correlates of depression, and receipt of depression care among low-income women with breast or gynecologic cancer. J Clin Oncol 23:3052–3060

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Hawighorst-Knapstein S, Fusshoeller C, Franz C, Trautmann K, Schmidt M, Pilch H, Schoenefuss G, Knapstein PG, Koelbl H, Kelleher DK, Vaupel P (2004) The impact of treatment for genital cancer on quality of life and body image—results of a prospective longitudinal 10-year study. Gynecol Oncol 94:398–403

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Frumovitz M, Sun CC, Schover LR, Munsell MF, Jhingran A, Wharton JT, Eifel P, Bevers TB, Levenback CF, Gershenson DM, Bodurka DC (2005) Quality of life and sexual functioning in cervical cancer survivors. J Clin Oncol 23:7428–7436

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. Greimel E, Thiel I, Peintinger F, Cegnar I, Pongratz E (2002) Prospective assessment of quality of life of female cancer patients. Gynecol Oncol 85:140–147

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Caffo O, Amichetti M, Mussari S, Romano M, Maluta S, Tomio L, Galligioni E (2003) Physical side effects and quality of life during postoperative radiotherapy for uterine cancer. Prospective evaluation by a diary card. Gynecol Oncol 88:270–276

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. WHOQOL Group (1993) Study protocol for the World health organisation project to develop a quality of life assessment instrument (WHOQOL). Qual Life Res 2:153–159

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Katschnig H (1997) How useful is the concept of quality of life in psychiatry? Curr Opin Psychiatry 10:337–345

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. WHOQOL Group (1998) Development of the world health organization WHOQOL-BREF quality of life assessment. Psychol Med 28:551–558

    Google Scholar 

  12. Fleck MP, Louzada S, Xavier M, Chachamovich E, Vieira G, Santos L, Pinzon V (2000) Application of the Portuguese version of the abbreviated instrument of quality life WHOQOL-bref. Rev Saude Publica 34:178–183

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Hoyle R (1995) Structural equation modeling: concepts, issues and applications. Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks, CA

    Google Scholar 

  14. Skevington SM, Lotfy M, O’Connell KA, WHOQOL Group (2004) The world health organization’s WHOQOL-BREF quality of life assessment: psychometric properties and results of the international field trial. A report from the WHOQOL group. Qual Life Res 13:299–310

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  15. Khanna S, Pal H, Pandey RM, Handa R (2004) The relationship between disease activity and quality of life in systemic lupus erythematosus. Rheumatology (Oxford) 43:1536–1540

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  16. Bedi GS, Gupta N, Handa R, Pal H, Pandey RM (2005) Quality of life in Indian patients with rheumatoid arthritis. Qual Life Res 14:1953–1958

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  17. Rose M, Kohler K, Kohler F, Sawitzky B, Fliege H, Klapp BF (2005) Determinants of the quality of life of patients with congenital heart disease. Qual Life Res 14:35–43

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  18. Wig N, Lekshmi R, Pal H, Ahuja V, Mittal CM, Agarwal SK (2006) The impact of HIV/AIDS on the quality of life: a cross sectional study in north India. Indian J Med Sci 60:3–12

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  19. Tsutsumi A, Izutsu T, Md Islam A, Maksuda AN, Kato H, Wakai S (2007) The quality of life, mental health, and perceived stigma of leprosy patients in Bangladesh. Soc Sci Med 64:2443–2453

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  20. Kim Y, Seidlitz L (2002) Spirituality moderates the effect of stress on emotional and physical adjustment. Pers Individ Differ 32:1377–1390

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Boscaglia N, Clarke DM, Jobling TW, Quinn MA (2005) The contribution of spirituality and spiritual coping to anxiety and depression in women with a recent diagnosis of gynecological cancer. Int J Gynecol Cancer 15:755–761

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  22. Balboni TA, Vanderwerker LC, Block SD, Paulk ME, Lathan CS, Peteet JR, Prigerson HG (2007) Religiousness and spiritual support among advanced cancer patients and associations with end-of-life treatment preferences and quality of life. J Clin Oncol 25:555–560

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  23. Smith SC, Koh WJ (2001) Palliative radiation therapy for gynaecological malignancies. Best Pract Res Clin Obstet Gynaecol 15:265–278

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  24. Barrett-Lee P, Bokemeyer C, Gascon P, Nortier JW, Schneider M, Schrijvers D, Van Belle S (2005) Management of cancer-related anemia in patients with breast or gynecologic cancer: new insights based on results from the European cancer anemia survey. Oncologist 10:743–757

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  25. Ludwig H, Strasser K (2001) Symptomatology of anemia. Semin Oncol 28(2 Suppl 8):7–14

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  26. Ludwig H, Van Belle S, Barrett-Lee P, Birgegard G, Bokemeyer C, Gascon P, Kosmidis P, Krzakowski M, Nortier J, Olmi P, Schneider M, Schrijvers D (2004) The European cancer anaemia survey (ECAS): a large, multinational, prospective survey defining the prevalence, incidence, and treatment of anaemia in cancer patients. Eur J Cancer 40:2293–2306

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  27. Cella D (1998) Factors influencing quality of life in cancer patients: anemia and fatigue. Semin Oncol 25(3 Suppl 7):43–46

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  28. Sobrero A, Puglisi F, Guglielmi A, Belvedere O, Aprile G, Ramello M, Grossi F (2001) Fatigue: a main component of anemia symptomatology. Semin Oncol 28(2 Suppl 8):15–18

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  29. Lind M, Vernon C, Cruickshank D, Wilkinson P, Littlewood T, Stuart N, Jenkinson C, Grey-Amante P, Doll H, Wild D (2002) The level of haemoglobin in anaemic cancer patients correlates positively with quality of life. Br J Cancer 86:1243–1249

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  30. International Association for the Study of Pain (2006) Pain terminology. Available at: http://www.iasp-pain.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Pain_Definitions&Template=/CM/HTMLDisplay.cfm&ContentID=1728. Accessed 15 Jan 2007

  31. Rummans TA, Frost M, Suman VJ, Taylor M, Novotny P, Gendron T, Johnson R, Hartmann L, Dose AM, Evans RW (1998) Quality of life and pain in patients with recurrent breast and gynecologic cancer. Psychosomatics 39:437–445

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  32. Foubert J, Vaessen G (2005) Nausea: the neglected symptom? Eur J Oncol Nurs 9:21–32

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  33. Chan YM, Ngan HY, Li BY, Yip AM, Ng TY, Lee PW, Yip PS, Wong LC (2001) A longitudinal study on quality of life after gynecologic cancer treatment. Gynecol Oncol 83:10–19

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  34. Wan GJ, Counte MA, Cella DF (1997) The influence of personal expectations on cancer patients’ reports of health-related quality of life. Psychooncology 6:1–11

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  35. Jones GL, Ledger W, Bonnett TJ, Radley S, Parkinson N, Kennedy SH (2006) The impact of treatment for gynecological cancer on health-related quality of life (HRQoL): a systematic review. Am J Obstet Gynecol 194:26–42

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Universidade Estadual de Campinas, School of Medicine, Rua Alexander Fleming, 101, Cidade Universitária ‘‘Zeferino Vaz’’, Campinas, SP, 13083-970, Brazil

    Ana Francisca Vaz, Aarão Mendes Pinto-Neto, Lúcia Costa-Paiva, Sirlei Siani Morais & Sérgio Barros Esteves

  2. Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Universidade Federal de Goiás, School of Medicine, Goiania, GO, Brazil

    Délio Marques Conde

Authors
  1. Ana Francisca Vaz
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Aarão Mendes Pinto-Neto
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Délio Marques Conde
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Lúcia Costa-Paiva
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Sirlei Siani Morais
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Sérgio Barros Esteves
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Aarão Mendes Pinto-Neto.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Vaz, A.F., Pinto-Neto, A.M., Conde, D.M. et al. Quality of life of women with gynecologic cancer: associated factors. Arch Gynecol Obstet 276, 583–589 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00404-007-0397-2

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00404-007-0397-2

Keywords

Search

Navigation