Assessment of quality of life in adolescent patients with cancer and adolescent survivors of childhood cancer.

PURPOSE

The aim of the study was to assess the quality of life (QoL) of adolescents with cancer and survivors of childhood cancer as well as the effect of various demographic factors upon it.

DESIGN AND METHODS

The sample of the study included 82 adolescents aged 13-20 years who had been diagnosed with any type of cancer. Twenty-six of them received treatment and 56 survivors of childhood cancer had successfully completed their treatment. Data collection lasted from July 2010 to December 2012 in Children's Hematology-Oncology Unit in Athens. For data collection, Minneapolis-Manchester Quality Questionnaire of Life Instrument was used. The assessment of the QoL of adolescents undergoing treatment was performed with three measurements and that of the survivors with one.

RESULTS

The QoL of adolescent patients did not significantly change during treatment and they showed a satisfactory QoL. Boys scored higher than girls (z = -1.78, p = .04 in psychological function and t = 2.27, p = .02 in body image) as far as QoL in social relations is concerned (z = -2.79, p = .002 in first measurement and z = -2.31, p = .01 in second measurement). Scores on the scale for the QoL of survivors of childhood cancer who completed treatment was 3.91. Survivors showed a higher QoL than the adolescent patients.

CONCLUSIONS

This research has shown that the studied population scored a sufficient QoL, especially survivors of childhood cancer ones. Moreover, their QoL seemed to be influenced by the stage of treatment, the type of cancer, sex, age, family support, and their level of education.