Therapeutic Advances in Hematology (Oct 2020)

Quality-of-life issues and symptoms reported by patients living with haematological malignancy: a qualitative study

  • Pushpendra Goswami,
  • Esther N. Oliva,
  • Tatyana Ionova,
  • Roger Else,
  • Jonathan Kell,
  • Adele K. Fielding,
  • Daniel M. Jennings,
  • Marina Karakantza,
  • Saad Al-Ismail,
  • Graham P. Collins,
  • Stewart McConnell,
  • Catherine Langton,
  • Sam Salek

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1177/2040620720955002
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 11

Abstract

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Background: Our aim was to identify health-related quality-of-life (HRQoL) issues and symptoms in patients with haematological malignancies (HMs) and develop a conceptual framework to reflect the inter-relation between them. Methods: A total of 129 patients with HMs were interviewed in a UK multicentre qualitative study. All interviews were audio recorded, transcribed and analysed using NVivo-11. Results: Overall, 34 issues were reported by patients and were grouped into two parts: quality of life (QoL) and symptoms. The most prevalent HRQoL issues were: eating and drinking habits; social life; physical activity; sleep; and psychological well-being. Furthermore, most prevalent disease-related symptoms were: tiredness; feeling unwell; breathlessness; lack of energy; and back pain. The most prevalent treatment side effects were: tiredness; feeling sick; disturbance in sense of taste; and breathlessness. Conclusions: Both HMs and their treatments have a significant impact on patients’ HRQoL, in particular on issues such as job-role change, body image and impact on finances.