Abstract
Purpose
Numerous studies have identified several factors influencing quality of life (QOL)
in cancer patients. However, studies on gender differences in cancer-related physical
symptoms and QOL levels have yielded inconsistent results. The present study examined
common symptoms (i.e., pain intensity, fatigue, and depression) in regard to their
ability to predict QOL in male and female oncology patients with cancer pain.
Method
A total of 114 oncology outpatients, including 34 males and 80 females, with pain
completed a demographic questionnaire, the Multidimensional Quality of Life Scale
– Cancer, the Lee Fatigue Scale, the Center for Epidemiological Studies – Depression
Scale, and a numeric rating scale for pain intensity.
Results
The female patients reported significantly lower psychological dimension of QOL than
their male counterparts (p=0.009). Also for the females, a negative correlation was found between pain intensity
and QOL (r=−0.504, p<0.0001), as well as positive correlations between pain intensity and fatigue (r=0.421, p<0.0001) and depression (r=0.368, p<0.0001). Stepwise linear regression analyses showed that among the females, QOL was
significantly predicted by pain intensity as well as by depression (F(2,75)=52.62, p<0.0001, Adj. R2=0.57). However, among the males, depression was the only symptom found to predict
QOL (F(2,30)=9.72, p<0.001, Adj. R2=0.39).
Conclusion
Therefore, it is concluded that gender should be considered as an additional feature
for further characterizing QOL. Gender differences in factors predicting QOL warrant
different clinical approaches to male and female patients, and identifying these differences
may assist health care providers in tailoring treatment modalities to individual patients
for optimal outcomes.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: January 24, 2011
Identification
Copyright
© 2011 Elsevier Ltd. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
