Table 4.
Associations between treatment factors and QOL scale scores
| QOL scale | Opioid use (yes vs no) | Fractionation (single fraction vs multiple fraction) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| β a | R2 b | p-value | β a | R2 b | p-value | |
| QLQ-C15-PAL | ||||||
| Global health status/QOL | 10.6 | 0.05 | 0.002 | 1.3 | 0.00 | 0.73 |
| Physical functioning | 18.8 | 0.09 | <0.001 | 9.6 | 0.02 | 0.049 |
| Emotional functioning | 9.6 | 0.03 | 0.006 | 9.0 | 0.02 | 0.025 |
| Fatigue | 12.0 | 0.05 | 0.001 | 14.1 | 0.05 | <0.001 |
| Nausea and vomiting | 5.9 | 0.02 | 0.043 | 10.4 | 0.05 | 0.002 |
| Pain | 24.4 | 0.17 | <0.001 | 14.1 | 0.04 | 0.002 |
| Dyspnea | 9.3 | 0.03 | 0.013 | 1.5 | 0.00 | 0.73 |
| Insomnia | 25.1 | 0.14 | <0.001 | 16.7 | 0.05 | 0.001 |
| Appetite loss | 15.8 | 0.06 | <0.001 | 15.5 | 0.04 | 0.002 |
| Constipation | 8.8 | 0.02 | 0.038 | 5.4 | 0.01 | 0.26 |
| QLQ-BM22 | ||||||
| Painful sites | 8.6 | 0.06 | <0.001 | 11.2 | 0.08 | <0.001 |
| Pain characteristics | 19.5 | 0.13 | <0.001 | 12.4 | 0.04 | 0.003 |
| Functional interference | 20.4 | 0.14 | <0.001 | 10.5 | 0.03 | 0.012 |
| Psychosocial aspects | 8.1 | 0.05 | 0.001 | 7.0 | 0.03 | 0.016 |
EORTC, European Organization for the Research and Treatment of Cancer; QLQ-BM22, QOL Questionnaire Bone Metastases module; QLQ-C15-PAL, QOL Questionnaire Core 15-Palliative; QOL, quality of life.
a
Regression coefficient (e.g. patients who used opioids, on average, had 10.6 points lower scores in the global health status/QOL scale than those who did not use opioids).
b
Coefficient of determination, which indicates the proportion of variance in the scale score explained by the respective factor (0 indicates no predictive value, whereas 1 indicates perfect prediction).