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Quality of life and cancer-related needs in patients with choroidal melanoma
Wiley, Joshua Laird, Kelsey Beran, Tammy McCannel, Tara Stanton, Annette
Wiley, Joshua
Laird, Kelsey
Beran, Tammy
McCannel, Tara
Stanton, Annette
Abstract
Aims: To assess quality of life (QoL) indices and their associations with treatment modality, sociodemographics and cancer-related needs in choroidal melanoma patients. Methods: Patients (N=99) treated at the University of California, Los Angeles, for choroidal melanoma within the prior 5 years (M=2.05) completed questionnaires assessing demographics, cancer-related needs, vision-specific QoL, depressive symptoms and concern about recurrence. Visual acuity, comorbidities, treatment modality (radiotherapy, enucleation) and years since diagnosis were gathered from medical records. Primary analyses were multiple regressions. Results: Although concern about cancer recurrence was elevated, QoL was better than in other oncology samples and comparable with healthy samples on some outcomes. Enucleation was associated with worse vision-specific QoL, and presence of comorbid diseases was associated with worse vision-specific QoL, depressive symptoms and concern about cancer recurring (all p values < 0.05). Patients who experienced at least one stressful life event in the past year (vs no events) reported more depressive symptoms (p < 0.01). Report of more unmet cancer needs was associated with worse vision-specific QoL, depressive symptoms and more concern about recurrence (all p values < 0.05), uniquely explaining 4%–12% of the variance. Conclusions: For choroidal melanoma patients, an average of 2 years after treatment, the number of physical comorbidities and unmet cancer needs were the strongest correlates of poorer QoL.
Keywords
Date
2013
Type
Journal article
Journal
British Journal of Ophthalmology
Book
Volume
97
Issue
11
Page Range
1471-1474
Article Number
ACU Department
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Open Access Status
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Controlled