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European Organisation (european + organisation)
Selected AbstractsPatients' subjective symptoms, quality of life and intake of food during the recovery period 3 and 12 months after upper gastrointestinal surgeryEUROPEAN JOURNAL OF CANCER CARE, Issue 1 2007U. OLSSON rnt, phd student Few studies describe patients' quality of life and their experienced symptoms during the recovery period after having undergone upper gastrointestinal surgery at 3 and 12 months. The aims of this study were to explore patients' quality of life and symptoms preoperatively and at 3 and 12 months following upper gastrointestinal surgery and to describe and compare patients' experiences of appetite, food intake, weight changes, tiredness and sleeping patterns. A descriptive and comparative quantitative design was used. Three instruments were used: the Gastrointestinal Symptom Rating Scale, the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire and the Eating Dysfunction Scale. A questionnaire was used to investigate symptoms such as mood, appetite, sleep, activities and well-being. Twenty-four patients were included in the study. The major results were that anxiety levels and global health status decreased and that patients felt more disappointed after 12 months compared with after 3 months. Four patients at 3 months after surgery and eight patients at 12 months regained their weight compared with the situation before surgery. The contribution of nursing care activities focusing on the importance of food intake and the patients' current and historical medical records in relation to their health status should continue to be examined and researched over a longer period of time. [source] EORTC QLQ-C30 and FACT-BMT for the measurement of quality of life in bone marrow transplant recipients: a comparisonEUROPEAN JOURNAL OF HAEMATOLOGY, Issue 2 2000Martin Kopp Abstract: The purpose of the study was to compare two differentquality-of-life self-rating instruments, namely the EORTC QLQ-C30, developed by the quality-of-life study group of the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer, and the FACT-BMT (version 3), the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy , Bone Marrow Transplantation scale, which is the FACT-G(eneral measure) in combination with a module developed specifically for evaluating quality of life of bone marrow transplant (BMT) patients. Fifty-six BMT recipients completed both the EORTC QLQ-C30 and the FACT-BMT (German language version) during the same session. Questionnaire data were analyzed on a subscale basis using correlation analysis and multiple linear regression. Correlations between corresponding subscales of EORTC QLQ-C30 and the FACT-BMT ranged from r=0.30 for the emotional domain (poor agreement) to r=0.77 for global QOL (good agreement). This suggests that the instruments, despite considerable overlap, possibly focus on different aspects of QOL, in particular in addressing emotional and social issues of BMT patients. It appears that the FACT-BMT gives a more comprehensive overview regarding the multidimensional construct of quality of life. The EORTC QLQ-C30 gives more insight into the physical aspects of quality of life and helps to identify symptoms which effectively decrease quality of life from the patient's perspective. The QLQ-C30 might be improved by the incorporation of a BMT-specific module currently under development. We therefore conclude that neither of the two instruments can be replaced by the other in the assessment of QOL of BMT patients and that a direct comparison of results obtained with the two instruments is likely to be misleading. [source] Quality of life and use of red cell transfusion in patients with myelodysplastic syndromes.AMERICAN JOURNAL OF HEMATOLOGY, Issue 10 2009A systematic review The main treatment for many patients with Myelodysplastic Syndromes (MDS) remains red cell transfusion to attenuate the symptoms of chronic anemia. Fatigue can reduce a patient's health related quality of life (HRQoL), but there is little understanding of the optimal use of transfusions to improve this. A systematic review was performed to identify and appraise publications reporting the use of HRQoL instruments in patients with MDS. A total of 17 separate studies were identified that used 14 HRQoL instruments, but only one MDS disease specific HRQoL instrument (QOL-E) was reported. Two well established HRQoL instruments were most often used in MDS research (variants of the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy (FACT) and the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer Core Quality of Life Questionnaire (QLQ-C30)). Several common problems were identified in the published literature including a lack of power calculations to detect clinically relevant changes, small sample sizes and significant attrition rates for completion of HRQoL assessments, all of which limit the strength of any conclusions. There is no consensus on the optimal transfusion regimen to improve HRQoL in transfusion-dependent MDS. Future research into HRQoL within MDS is a pressing requirement. Studies should focus on the domains that are of most clinical importance to the patient as well as traditional quantitative changes of hemoglobin concentration. Am. J. Hematol., 2009. © 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] INTEGRATION OF PROSPECTIVE QUALITY OF LIFE AND NUTRITIONAL ASSESSMENT AS ROUTINE COMPONENTS OF MULTIDISCIPLINARY CARE OF PATIENTS WITH HEAD AND NECK CANCERANZ JOURNAL OF SURGERY, Issue 1-2 2008Justine Oates Background: Quality of life (QOL) and nutritional assessment of patients with head and neck cancer can provide additional information about the effects of treatment beyond the standard measures of disease control and survival. Integrating a prospective evaluation program into a multidisciplinary service may ensure that a more holistic model of care is developed. Methods: Prospective evaluation of QOL and nutrition before and after treatment for head and neck cancer was implemented in 2001. All patients enrolled in the program were treated with curative intent. Patients completed the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer Core QOL Questionnaire and Head and Neck Specific Module before treatment and at 3, 6 and 12 months after completion of therapy. In conjunction, patients underwent nutritional assessment by body mass index, biochemical parameters and the patient-generated subjective global assessment tool. Results: Among 288 patients who consented to participate in this study, 134 patients completed the QOL assessment criteria and were eligible for evaluation. Examples of QOL and nutritional data for patients with cancers of the oral cavity, oropharynx, nasopharynx, larynx, hypopharynx, parotid gland and paranasal sinus, and also unknown primary cancers are given. Implementation of this prospective assessment program required appropriate resources and was hampered by time constraints, logistics with blood tests and patient compliance. Conclusions: Despite difficulties with implementation, the information concerning QOL and nutritional status obtained in this study provided an appreciation of the long-term functional effects of treatment for head and neck cancer. Prospective QOL assessment and nutritional evaluation should become integral components of the care of patients with cancers of the head and neck. [source] Long-term health-related quality of life following surgery for oesophageal cancerBRITISH JOURNAL OF SURGERY (NOW INCLUDES EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF SURGERY), Issue 9 2008T. Djärv Background: The aim of the study was to assess health-related quality of life (HRQL) in patients with surgically cured oesophageal cancer. Methods: A Swedish nationwide cohort of patients undergoing oesophagectomy for cancer between April 2001 and January 2004 was studied prospectively, and compared with a Swedish age- and sex-adjusted reference population. Validated European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer quality of life questionnaires were used to assess HRQL at 6 months and 3 years after surgery. A mean score difference of 10 or more between groups was considered clinically relevant and tested further for statistical significance. Results: Of 358 patients, 117 (32·7 per cent) survived for at least 3 years. Of these, 87 patients (74·4 per cent) responded to the questionnaires. Six months after surgery, most aspects of HRQL were substantially worse than in the reference population with no improvement at 3 years. Patients alive at 3 years reported significantly poorer role and social function, and significantly more problems with fatigue, diarrhoea, appetite loss, nausea and vomiting, than in the reference population. Conclusion: HRQL in long-term survivors after oesophagectomy does not improve between 6 months and 3 years after surgery, and is worse than that in a comparable reference population. Copyright © 2008 British Journal of Surgery Society Ltd. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] | |||||||||||||||||||