Health-related quality of life of patients with cancer in palliative care

Abstract

Objective: to assess the health-related quality of life of cancer patients in palliative care and its association with sociodemographic and clinical aspects. Method: analytical, cross-sectional study involving 127 patients. Instruments of sociodemographic characterization and assessment of quality of life were used - European Organization for Research and Treatment for Cancer. For the analysis of the data, the Kolmogorov-Smirnov, Mann-Whitney and Kruskal-Wallis’ tests have been used. Results: in the assessment of quality of life, the Global Health Status and Role Functioning had the worst evaluation; in the Symptoms Scale, pain, fatigue, insomnia and loss of appetite were highlighted. In the association of the domains of the data collection instrument with the sociodemographic variables, there was a significant association of age and schooling with cognitive functioning, and monthly income with general health status;with the clinical variables there was a significant association of metastasis with physical functioning; radiotherapy with social functioning, and hospitalization time with the Functional Scale. The Symptom Scale showed a significant association of fatigue with metastasis, chemotherapy and hospitalization time; pain with chemotherapy and hospitalization time; insomnia with surgical procedure; and loss of appetite with chemotherapy. Conclusion: the impairment of the functional capacity due to cancer affects the patient’s ability to perform routine activities, social relationships, and financial status. Socio-demographic and clinical aspects should be considered in the assessment of the quality of life of these patients, so as to enable humanized and integrated care to the principles of the Unified Health System in force in Brazil.