Cancer Management and Research (Aug 2021)
Psychosocial Burden and Quality of Life of Lung Cancer Patients: Results of the EORTC QLQ-C30/QLQ-LC29 Questionnaire and Hornheide Screening Instrument
Abstract
Myriam Koch,1 Laura Gräfenstein,2,3 Julia Karnosky,4 Christian Schulz,1 Michael Koller2 1Department of Internal Medicine 2, University Hospital Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany; 2Center for Clinical Studies University Hospital Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany; 3Hospital Wörth an der Donau, Germany; 4Department of Surgery, University Hospital Regensburg, Regensburg, GermanyCorrespondence: Myriam KochKlinik und Poliklinik für Innere Medizin II, Universitätsklinikum Regensburg, Franz-Josef-Strauß Allee 11, Regensburg, D-93053, GermanyTel +49 941 9440Email [email protected]: Overall survival is the ultimate criterion for the therapy of lung cancer, but psychosocial care, which helps the patient to cope with the disease, becomes a more and more important issue in the treatment of this life-threatening disease.Methods: We report the satellite project within a prospective, international, cross-cultural, multicenter study to validate the EORTC QLQ-LC29, a new designed module to assess the quality of life of lung cancer patients. The participants filled in the EORTC QLQ-C30, the recently updated lung cancer module QLQ-LC29 and the Hornheide questionnaire (HSI).Results: A total of 81 patients (32 female and 49 male, mean age 65.2 years, SD = 9.7) were enrolled in this study by completing the questionnaires. Fatigue (mean 55.4, SD = 26.3) and dyspnea (mean 46.3, SD = 36.2) were the most prominent symptoms. Thirty-nine patients (48.1%) according to the HSI needed psychosocial support. When using the EORTC questionnaires as screening instrument with 50 as cut-off in contrast only 29.5% of our patients needed psychosocial support. The need for psychosocial support according to the HSI correlated most with the EORTC scales “fatigue” (38.3% overlap between the two questionnaires), “existential fear” (38.3% overlap between the two questionnaires) and worse “global quality of life” (27.2% overlap between the two questionnaires).Conclusion: If psychosocial distress is at the core, the HSI is a suitable instrument for quick screening. The EORTC measures help to specify impaired quality of life areas and also cover somatic symptoms that are specific for cancer patients. Once psychosocial distress has been ascertained, clinicians should be particularly aware of specific problems regarding “fatigue”, “existential fear” and diminished “global quality of life”.Trial Registration: clinicaltrials.gov, reference number NCT02745691. Registered 20 April 2016.Keywords: lung cancer, quality of life, psychosocial burden, EORTC QLQ-C30/QLQ-LC29 questionnaire, Hornheide screening instrument
