Quality of Life in Cervical Cancer Patients on Follow-Up Care in a Regional Cancer Center in South India

CONTEXT: Better survival rates have driven the cancer care from a medical illness model to a wellness model, which is concerned with the quality of women’s lives as well as the length of survival. AIMS: To evaluate the association between socio-demographic and disease characteristics with Quality of Life (QOL) in cervical cancer survivors. SETTINGS AND DESIGN: Descriptive study on quality of life of cervical cancer survivors carried out in Regional Cancer Center, JIPMER METHODS AND MATERIAL: After informed consent, 267 subjects were interviewed using a structured questionnaire on socio-demographic and disease characteristics and WHOQOL-BREF.QOL was assessed in four domains namely, physical, psychological, social and environmental domains. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: Subjects were categorised as having good and poor QOL depending on the median score for each domain. Univariate analysis was done using ANOVA and Student's t-test. Factors influencing QOL in each domain were identified using multiple linear regression. Statistical analysis was done using SPSS 13.0.RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: Greater proportion of patients had poor overall QOL, with the highest proportion of subjects having lower QOL scores in the psychological domain (71%). Cervical cancer survivors who were uneducated, widowed, postmenopausal and those with recurrence of disease are at increased risk of having poor QOL. Factors influencing QOL in this population can be an effective guide in formulating such interventions, with special emphasis on at risk subjects. Psychological interventions in the form of counselling should be provided as an integral component of cancer management, introducing a humanistic element in the health care.