Quality of Life and Anxiety before and after Lung Cancer Chemotherapy: Relationship to Patient's Personality

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to assess the quality of life (QOL) and anxiety in 50 inpatients with primary lung cancer and examine the influence of their personalities on the QOL assessment. We used a psychological personality test to evaluate the patient's personality, then followed the course of QOL and anxiety before and after chemotherapy. To measure QOL, we used Holmes's QOL checklist, and the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory was adopted to estimate the patient's anxiety. Eighty courses of chemotherapy were administered, and QOL evaluations were performed 235 times. By using factor analysis, the somatic, social and psychological factors were extracted which confirmed the reliability and validity of the QOL checklist. The psychological QOL score showed a correlation with A (Adult) and AC (Adapted Child) of the five ego states in the Egogram. Therefore, it is important to survey the patients' personalities in order to grasp their QOL accurately.