Quality of life in a real-world cohort of advanced breast cancer patients: a study of the SONABRE Registry

Abstract

Purpose We aimed to evaluate quality of life (QoL) using the European Quality of Life Five-Dimensions questionnaire (EQ-5D-3L) in a real-world cohort of Dutch advanced breast cancer (ABC) patients. Secondary, we reported differences in QoL between subgroups of patients based on age, comorbidity, tumor-, and treatment characteristics, and assessed the association of duration of metastatic disease and time to death with QoL. Methods ABC patients who attended the outpatient clinic between October 2010 and May 2011 were asked to fill out the EQ-5D-3L questionnaire. Patient-, disease-, and treatment characteristics were obtained from the medical files. Health-utility scores were calculated. Subgroups were described and compared for utility scores by parametric and non-parametric methods. Results A total of 92 patients were included with a median utility score of 0.691 (Interquartile range [IQR] 0.244). Patients ≥ 65 years had significantly worse median utility scores than younger patients; 0.638 versus 0.743, respectively (p = 0.017). Moreover, scores were significantly worse for patients with versus those without comorbidity (medians 0.620 versus 0.725, p = 0.005). Utility scores did not significantly differ between subgroups of tumor type, type of systemic treatment, number of previous palliative treatment(s), or number or location of metastatic site(s). The remaining survival was correlated with utility scores (correlation coefficient (r) = 0.260, p = 0.0252), especially in the subgroup < 65 years (r = 0.340, p = 0.0169), whereas there was no significant correlation with time since metastatic diagnosis (r = − 0.106, p = 0.3136). Conclusion Within this real-world cross-sectional study, QoL was significantly associated with age, comorbidity, and remaining survival duration. The observation of a lower QoL in ABC patients, possibly indicating the last period of life, may assist clinical decision-making on timing of cessation of systemic antitumor therapy.

Quality of life of women with breast cancer in a tertiary referral university hospital

“…The mean VA score (79.65, SD 5.985) was low compared to Malaysian population score (85.52, SD 12.3) [ 10 ]. A previous study that used the same EuroQol questionnaire reported a median utility score of 0.691 [ 11 ], which was lower because the authors had sampled patients with advanced breast cancer. However, the QoL in the present research was higher, as the sample consisted of patients with breast cancer of all stages.…”

Measuring Quality of Life Using Patient-Reported Outcomes in Real-World Metastatic Breast Cancer Patients: The Need for a Standardized Approach

“…Age above 65 and one or more comorbidities were associated with lower EQ-5D scores according to the stratified analysis of Claessens et al, but their sample size was not sufficient for multivariate regression analyses. The latter could probably have better explored the relationship between potential risk factors and HRQoL [ 43 ]. Different results were found in two other studies, in which older women had better psychological symptom scores than younger women [ 41 , 47 ].…”

“…Bone metastases frequently occur in MBC patients for which there are a variety of treatment options, including bisphosphonates. Three studies focused on MBC patients with bone metastasis and showed lower QoL compared to patients without bone metastasis [ 41 , 43 , 50 ]. One study indicated that bisphosphonate treatment was associated with better wellbeing.…”

Dynamic Changes in Quality of Life, Psychological Status, and Body Image in Women With Different Types of Breast Cancer Surgery: 8-year Follow Up

“…The EQ-5D questionnaire is a universal, preference-based tool suitable for decision analysis [50,60]. The EQ-5D questionnaire assesses ve dimensions of QoL: mobility, self-care, usual activities, pain or discomfort, and anxiety/depression, where each item has three levels of severity (no problems at all, some/moderate problems, and severe/extreme problems) [9,35].…”