Association Between Quality of Life Questionnaire at Diagnosis and Survival in Patients With Lung Cancer

Yu Jin Hong; Solji Han; Jeong Uk Lim; Hye Seon Kang; Sung Kyoung Kim; Jin Woo Kim; Sang Haak Lee; Seung Joon Kim; Chang Dong Yeo

doi:10.1016/j.cllc.2023.03.007

Association Between Quality of Life Questionnaire at Diagnosis and Survival in Patients With Lung Cancer

Clin Lung Cancer. 2023 Jul;24(5):459-466. doi: 10.1016/j.cllc.2023.03.007. Epub 2023 Mar 21.

Authors

Yu Jin Hong¹, Solji Han², Jeong Uk Lim¹, Hye Seon Kang¹, Sung Kyoung Kim¹, Jin Woo Kim¹, Sang Haak Lee³, Seung Joon Kim⁴, Chang Dong Yeo⁵

Affiliations

¹ Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
² Department of Statistics and Data Science, Yonsei University, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
³ Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, Republic of Korea; Cancer Research Institute, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
⁴ Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, Republic of Korea; Division of Pulmonology, Department of Internal Medicine, Seoul St. Mary's Hospital, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, Republic of Korea; Postech-Catholic Biomedical Engineering Institute, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
⁵ Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, Republic of Korea. Electronic address: brainyeo@catholic.ac.kr.

PMID: 37061414
DOI: 10.1016/j.cllc.2023.03.007

Abstract

Background: Patients with lung cancer experience considerable symptom burden, which can decrease patients' QOL. Our aim was to investigate the association between QOL questionnaire at diagnosis and survival of lung cancer.

Patients and methods: This was a multicenter study of lung cancer patients at 7 medical centers of the Catholic University of Korea that responded to a quality of life questionnaire between December 1, 2017 and December 31, 2020. We analyzed 5 functional (physical, role, emotional, cognitive, and social functioning) and nine symptom (fatigue, nausea and vomiting, pain, dyspnea, insomnia, appetite loss, constipation, diarrhea, and financial difficulties) scales and examined their associations with survival. A Cox proportional hazards model was used to evaluate the prognostic value.

Results: In total, 1297 lung cancer patients were enrolled. The results of multivariable analysis showed that female, younger age, never smoker, stage I or II cancer, higher physical functioning, and emotional functioning were statistically significant favorable predictors for survival. On subgroup analysis according to early (stage I and II) or advanced (stage III or IV) stage, higher physical functioning and emotional functioning were each found to be favorable prognostic factors for survival. Meanwhile, fatigue, pain, insomnia, and financial difficulties were found to be associated with low scores on the emotional functioning scale; fatigue, pain, dyspnea, and financial difficulties were associated with low scores on the physical functioning scale.

Conclusion: Assessing the physical functioning and emotional functioning scales of QOL questionnaire items at diagnosis can help clinicians predict the survival of patients with lung cancer.

Keywords: EORTC QLQ-C30; Emotional functioning; Physical functioning; Prognosis; Symptom.

Publication types

Multicenter Study
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Dyspnea
Fatigue
Female
Humans
Lung Neoplasms* / diagnosis
Pain
Quality of Life
Sleep Initiation and Maintenance Disorders*
Surveys and Questionnaires