Higher Dispositional Optimism Predicts Better Health-Related Quality of Life After Esophageal Cancer Surgery: A Nationwide Population-Based Longitudinal Study

Abstract

Purpose To assess whether higher dispositional optimism could predict better health-related quality of life (HRQL) after esophageal cancer surgery. Methods This Swedish nationwide longitudinal study included 192 patients who underwent esophagectomy for cancer. The exposure was dispositional optimism measured by the Life Orientation Test-Revised (LOT-R) at 1 year post-surgery. Patients were categorized into four subgroups (very low, moderately low, moderately high, and very high dispositional optimism) based on the quartile of the LOT-R sum score. The outcome was HRQL assessed by the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) Quality of Life Questionnaire-Core 30 (QLQ-C30) and Quality of Life Questionnaire-Esophago-Gastric module 25 (QLQ-OG25) at 1, 1.5, and 2 years post-surgery. Linear mixed-effects models, adjusted for potential confounders, were used to examine the mean score difference (MSD) with 95% confidence interval of HRQL among the four patient subgroups. Results Patients with very high dispositional optimism reported clinically relevantly better global quality of life, emotional function, and social function (MSD range 10–16) and less severe symptoms in pain, dyspnea, diarrhea, eating difficulty, anxiety, dry mouth, trouble with taste, worry about weight loss, and self-doubt about body image (MSD range − 9 to − 22) than patients with lower dispositional optimism. Patients with moderately high dispositional optimism reported clinically and statistically significantly better global quality of life (MSD 10) and less severe diarrhea (MSD − 9) than patients with lower dispositional optimism. Adjusted MSDs were constant over the three time points in all aspects except for eating difficulty. Conclusions Measuring dispositional optimism could help identify patients at higher risk of poor HRQL recovery after esophageal cancer surgery.

Dispositional optimism and all-cause mortality after esophageal cancer surgery: a nationwide population-based cohort study

“…In addition, more optimistic people are less likely to develop psychological comorbidities and feel lonely [31,42], which may decrease the risks of mortality [8,43]. Moreover, higher dispositional optimism predicts better health-related quality of life [44], and the latter further predicts better survival after esophageal cancer surgery [45].…”

Psychological distress after esophageal cancer surgery and the predictive effect of dispositional optimism: a nationwide population-based longitudinal study

“…Data for this longitudinal study is from a prospective, ongoing Swedish-nationwide cohort study entitled Oesophageal Surgery on Cancer patients—Adaptation and Recovery (OSCAR). Detailed description of the OSCAR study can be found elsewhere [ 16 , 17 ]. In brief, it includes patients undergoing esophagectomy for cancer in Sweden from January 1, 2013 and onwards.…”

What makes a patient satisfied with intrathecal baclofen treatment for spasticity : Expectations and experiences

“…Optimism is a personality trait that remains relatively stable over time [62] and has been shown to be protective in a broad range of contexts [63]. Higher dispositional optimism predicted higher health-related quality of life after surgery in patients with oesophageal cancer [64]. A significant association was seen between optimism and pain experience [65], and fatigue in patients with myocardial infarction [66], with subjectively and objectively reported physical health outcomes and higher effect size for the self-ratings [63].…”

“…Higher levels of optimism correlated with lower levels of depression and anxiety [68]. The association and predictive strength of optimism within several areas are well established but further research is needed to investigate underlying pathways for causality [63,64,72].…”