Payesh (Jun 2007)

Knowledge of cancer diagnosis and quality of life in patients with gastrointestinal cancer

  • Tavoli A,
  • Montazeri A,
  • Mohagheghi M.A,
  • Roshan R,
  • Tavoli Z,
  • Melyani M

Journal volume & issue
Vol. 6, no. 3
pp. 0 – 0

Abstract

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Objective(s): The aim of this trial was to study the various dimensions of quality of life in patients with gastrointestinal cancer and to compare these variables among those who knew their diagnosis and those who did not. Methods: A consecutive sample of patients with gastrointestinal cancer being treated in Cancer Institute in Tehran, Iran was prospectively evaluated. A psychologist interviewed patients using the Iranian version of the European Organization for Research and Treatment or Cancer Quality or Life Questionnaire (EORTC QLQ C30). Patients were categorized into two groups: those who know their diagnosis and those who did not. Independent sample I-test was used for group comparisons. Results: In all 142 patients were interviewed. A significant proportion (52%) of patients did not know their diagnosis and 48% of patients were aware that they had cancer. They were quite similar in most characteristics. The comparison of quality of life between two groups indicated that those knew their diagnosis showed a significant lower degree or physical (P=0.00 I), emotional (P=0.01) and social functioning {P<0.001), whereas the global quality of life and other functional scales including role functioning and cognitive functioning did not show significant result. There were no statistically significant differences between symptoms scores between two groups, except for fatigue suggesting a higher score in patients who knew their diagnosis (P=0.01). The financial difficulties were also significantly higher in patients who knew their cancer diagnosis (P=0.005). Conclusion: Contrary to expectation the findings showed that patients who did not know their cancer diagnosis had superior physical, social and emotional quality of life. For explaining such findings it seems that in addition to cultural issues information-giving manner might have an important role in improved or decreased quality of life in cancer patients.

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