Avaliação da qualidade de vida em pacientes com malignidades hematológicas

Abstract

Hematologic malignancies form a heterogeneous group of cancers that affect the blood, bone marrow, and lymphatic system. The objective was to evaluate the health-related quality of life in a group of patients with hematological malignancies in a private chemotherapy service in Goiânia-GO. This is an analytical crosssectional study with a quantitative approach. The study group was formed by selected patients in a private service of Hematology and Oncology, in GoiâniaGO. The instruments used for data collection were a questionnaire containing clinical and sociodemographic data and the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire Core (EORTC QLQ-C30), developed and validated for patients with hematological cancer in Brazil. The sample consisted of 56 patients, 50% elderly, 53.6% male, 30.4% diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma and 39.3% undergoing chemotherapy for over a year. The main symptoms during treatment were weakness (58.9%), dry mouth (39.3%), constipation (33.9%) and pain or discomfort (33.9%) and the main concerns were with the state health (58.9%), concern for family and friends (50.0%) and side effects of treatment (44.6%). Female patients had more nausea and vomiting compared (p<0.01), patients with CML, HL, AML had worse cognitive function performance (p=0.02), patients with longer chemotherapy treatment had greater difficulty financial (p=0.04). The correlation analysis showed that the greater the number of symptoms, the worse the QoL in relation to the physical (p=0.01) and performance (p=0.01) dimensions of the functional scale. The greater the number of concerns in the treatment, the worse the QoL in relation to the cognitive (p=0.01) and social (p=0.02) dimensions of the functional scale as well. The greater the number of symptoms in the treatment, the greater the symptoms of fatigue (p=0.01), pain (p=0.04), dyspnea (p=0.01) and loss of appetite (p=0.01 ). The greater the number of concerns in the treatment, the greater the symptoms of fatigue (p=0.04) and constipation (p=0.01). It is hoped that this study will serve as a starting point for future research on HRQoL in cancer patients and that its results may contribute to the planning of better treatment conditions for patients with hematological malignancies