Determinants of quality of life among Malaysian cancer patients: a cross-sectional study

Abstract

BackgroundCancer is a serious public health problem not only in Malaysia, also worldwide. The aim of this study was to determine the determinants of quality of life (QOL) among cancer patients in Peninsular Malaysia.MethodsA cross sectional study was conducted among 2120 cancer patients in Peninsular Malaysia, between April 2016 to January 2017. All cancer patients aged 18 years old and above, Malaysian citizens and undergoing cancer treatment at government hospitals were approached to participate in this study and requested to complete a set of validated questionnaires. Inferential statistical tests such as t-test and one-way ANOVA were used to determine the differences between demographic variables, physical effects, clinical factors, psychological effects and self-esteem with the quality of life of cancer patients. Predictor(s) of quality of life were determined by using Multivariate linear regression models.ResultA total 1620 out of 2120 cancer patients participated in this study, giving a response rate of 92%. The majority of cancer patients were female 922 (56.9%), Malays 1031 (63.6%), Muslim 1031 (63.6%), received chemotherapy treatment 1483 (91.5%). Overall, 1138 (70.2%) of the patients had depression and 1500 (92.6%) had anxiety. Statistically significant associations were found between QOL and clinical factors, physical side effects of cancer, psychological effects and self-esteem (p < 0.05). However, among socio-demographics only age, race, religion, working status were significantly associated with QOL. Based on the multivariate regression analysis, the main predictors of QOL among cancer patients in Malaysia were age, self-esteem as positive predictors, and Indian race, nausea, fatigue, hair loss, bleeding as negative predictors.ConclusionThe findings of this study provide a scientific basis to develop a comprehensive program for improving quality of life of cancer patients in Malaysia.

Impact of fatigue on quality of life among breast cancer patients receiving chemotherapy

“…The results showed that fatigue showed a moderate correlation with reduced overall QOL. This finding is similar to that of a recent study done in Malaysia in 2018 [ 30 ] and several studies conducted globally, which reported significant negative relationships between QOL and fatigue [ 38 , 42 − 50 ]. The majority of cancer patients reported that fatigue prevented them from engaging in their normal daily routine and partaking in social activities such as spending time with friends or going to a restaurant [ 51 ].…”

Anorexia, pain and peripheral neuropathy are associated with a decrease in quality of life in patients with advanced pancreatic cancer receiving outpatient chemotherapy — a retrospective observational study

“…The present results are consistent with those of Akhtari-Zavare M et al who also analyzed the association between the presence of nausea and QOL in cancer patients using the WHOQOL-BREF, and showed that nausea negatively influenced QOL in each component of physical, psychological, environmental and social relationships [ 30 ]. The present study also suggested that nausea caused by FOLFORINOX, a highly emetogenic risk regimen, and GnP therapy, a moderately emetogenic risk regimen, may affect QOL.…”

A Systematic Review of Quality of Life Assessments of Offenders

“…Compared with the literature on the QoL of the general population and chronic disease groups, literature on the QoL of detained offending groups is modest, albeit increasing (van Nieuwenhuizen, Schene, & Koeter, 2009). In a large cross-sectional study of prisoners, psychological distress was the strongest correlate of poor QoL (Muller & Bukten, 2019), and this relationship is consistently reported among both the general population (Caron, Cargo, Daniel, & Liu, 2019;Solis & Lotufo-Neto, 2019) and people with chronic diseases (Akhtari-Zavare et al, 2018;Björkman & Hansson, 2002;Fleury et al, 2013;Hansson & Björkman, 2007;Lehto, Ojanen, & Kellokumpu-Lehtinen, 2005;Rabin, Heldt, Hirakata, & Fleck, 2008). Poor QoL has also been reported among populations with similar risk patterns as detained offenders, such as people with histories of childhood maltreatment (Greger, Myhre, Lydersen, & Jozefiak, 2016), personality disorders (Cramer, Torgersen, & Kringlen, 2006;Lindstedt, Soderlund, Stalenheim, & Sjoden, 2005), and substance use disorders (De Maeyer, Vanderplasschen, & Broekaert, 2010;Muller, Skurtveit, & Clausen, 2016;Strada et al, 2017).…”