Background: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one the most common malignancies in the world. As the prognosis for HCC patients is poor, the quality of life (QOL) is becoming more important on the outcome assessments. The aim of this study was to evaluate QOL in HCC patients.
Methods: A total of 161 patients with HCC were enrolled at a university hospital. Most of these patients received surgical resections. They were assessed with Taiwan versions of WHOQOL-BREF, EORTC QLQ-C30, and utility measures. The WHOQOL-BREF domain scores for the HCC patients were compared to healthy normative Taiwan population, using general linear models controlling for gender and age. Multiple logistic regressions were applied to explore association between a better QOL and clinical/sociodemographic variables.
Results: Compared with healthy people, the HCC patients had reduced QOL in physical domains, but better environmental QOL. After controlling gender, age, education, and employment, duration of HCC more than 1 year was associated with better QOL scores. WHOQOL-BREF could be cross-validated with EORTC QLQ-C30.
Conclusions: Survival over 1 year was associated with better QOL in HCC patients. WHOQOL-BREF could be a valid QOL instrument for the assessments of QOL in HCC patients.