Health-related quality of life among paediatric survivors of primary brain tumours and acute leukaemia.

PURPOSE

Comparative assessment of the HRQL of paediatric survivors of brain tumours (BT) and of acute leukaemia against a population of their healthy peers.

METHODS

The study consisted of patients who had completed treatment for BT (n=36) or acute leukaemia (n=35) and were aged between 8 and 19. Healthy children (n=60) were selected from among pupils of schools. HRQL was evaluated directly and indirectly on the basis of the Polish language version of the PedsQLTM 4.0 Generic Core scales. The influence of selected factors (sex, age, time from the end of treatment and type of treatment) on the HRQL result was analysed.

RESULTS

In all the aspects analysed (total, physical, psychosocial, emotional, social and school functioning), the HRQL of BT and leukaemia survivors was significantly lower in comparison to their healthy peers. The HRQL of patients after BT treatment was also significantly lower than that of the survivors of leukaemia. The parent-proxy reported HRQL was consistent with the children's selfassessment. Patients treated with radiotherapy presented a significantly lower evaluation of life quality in the physical sphere.

CONCLUSIONS

Evaluation of HRQL should be treated as an additional independent parameter in an assessment of the long-term results of oncological treatment.