Health-related Quality of Life in Chinese Inpatients with Lung Cancer Treatedin Large General Hospitals: Across-sectional Study

Objective: In China, psychosocial problems of patients with cancer are under-recognised and undertreated in medical oncology practice. This study examined the health-related quality of life (QOL) in inpatients with lung cancer treated in large general hospitals and explored the demographic, clinical and psychosocial factors associated with QOL.

Design: Cross-sectional study.

Participants And Setting: Altogether, 148 inpatients with lung cancer were consecutively recruited from two large general hospitals in Tianjin, China.

Main Outcome Measured: QOL, pain intensity, depressive and anxiety symptoms, and social support were assessed with WHO QOL Scale Brief Version, four-point Verbal Rating Scale, Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale and Social Support Rating Scale, respectively.

Results: Compared with the normative data for the Chinese general population, patients had significantly lower scores in physical (t=-25.860, p<0.001) and psychological (t=-18.225, p<0.001) QOL. Being unmarried (β=-2.471, 95% CI -4.908 to -0.034), poor economic status (β=-1.764, 95% CI -2.964 to -0.564), cancer metastasis (β=-1.328, 95% CI -2.632 to -0.024), poor performance status (β=-0.959, 95% CI -1.542 to -0.376), depression (β=-0.465, 95% CI -0.631 to -0.299), anxiety (β=-0.208, 95% CI -0.354 to -0.062) and low utilisation of social support (β=-0.344, 95% CI -0.577 to -0.111) were independently associated with poor physical QOL, while female gender (β=-1.494, 95% CI -0.649 to -2.339), less education years (β=-0.209, 95% CI -0.294 to -0.123), currently receiving chemotherapy (β=-1.536, 95% CI -3.051 to -0.021), small-cell cancer (β=-1.157, 95% CI -2.223 to -0.091), more intense pain (β=-0.535, 95% CI -0.919 to -0.151), poor performance status (β=-0.930, 95% CI -1.383 to -0.477), anxiety (β=-0.178, 95% CI -0.248 to -0.108) and inadequate subjective social support (β=-0.137, 95% CI -0.153 to -0.121) were independently associated with poor psychological QOL.

Conclusions: Inpatients with lung cancer treated in Chinese large general hospitals have poorer QOL than the general population. Effective prevention and management of psychosocial problems are potentially effective to improve their QOL.