Quality of life in women with ovarian cancer during first-line chemotherapy concerning the age of the patients

Abstract

Abstract Ovarian cancer is the worst prognostic gynaecological cancer and represents a grave clinical and social problem. Therefore, the study aimed to assess female patients' emotional, cognitive, physical and social quality of life. The study included 100 patients diagnosed with ovarian cancer and treated with chemotherapy in a day hospital setting in the Department of Radiotherapy and Gynaecological Oncology at the Wielkopolska Oncology Centre Poznań. The patients obtained a standard treatment regimen: paclitaxel 175 mg/m² in a 3-hourly infusion and carboplatin at an AUC of 6 (5–7) following Calvert as a 1-hour infusion for six cycles administered every 21 days. In addition, the standardised questionnaires of the Polish version of the EORTC QLQ-C30 and QLQOV28 were used. The analysis of the collected material shows that the patients reported the highest level of general health and quality of life at the study's first phase, i.e. before the start of chemotherapy (mean value 59.67 points). In contrast, the patients' lowest level of general health and quality of life was observed in the fourth phase of the study (mean value of 45.04 points). Detailed data analysis shows that the patients scored highest in the four study phases regarding cognitive functioning. The mean value in the first phase of the study was 77 points. While in the fourth phase of the study, it was 57.98 points. The study indicates that the patients in social functioning represented the lowest quality of life throughout the study process - the numerical mean on the social functioning scale. In the first phase, there were 63.50 points; in the fourth phase, 35.11 points. The problem of side effects, such as nausea and vomiting, affected the entire study group and was more troublesome in the final stage of treatment for all patients. In the study's first phase, the mean score on nausea and vomiting symptom scale was 16 points; in the fourth phase, the mean score was 40.07. Of the clinical factors, the symptom of fatigue was the most severe health problem for the subjects. The mean score of the fatigue scale in the study's first phase was 37.11 points, while a score of 70.33 was obtained in the fourth phase of the research. Women with ovarian cancer during chemotherapy need exceptional support from psychologists, nurses, dieticians and physiotherapists.