Table 7. Mean quality of life scores before, during, and after treatment.

	Cisplatin–gemcitabine		Epirubicin–gemcitabine
Items	Mean	s.e.	Mean	s.e.	P
(a)
Global health statusa
Before	53.1	2.7	58.1	2.4	ns
During	53.4	2.7	53.5	3.0	ns
After	52.0	2.9	51.7	3.1	ns
Functional scalesa
Physical
Before	59.1	3.5	67.3	2.9	ns
During	56.3	3.6	51.2	3.8	ns
After	57.0	3.9	47.1	3.6	ns
Role
Before	53.2	3.7	59.3	3.3	ns
During	48.0	3.8	37.7	4.2	ns
After	45.9	3.7	43.0	4.1	ns
Cognitive
Before	82.1	2.5	82.7	2.6	ns
During	80.4	3.0	77.7	3.6	ns
After	79.9	3.0	81.2	2.8	ns
Emotional
Before	62.4	2.6	64.0	2.6	ns
During	72.4	3.3	69.6	3.3	ns
After	72.5	2.6	72.9	2.8	ns
Social
Before	73.6	2.8	74.0	3.0	ns
During	64.9	3.9	65.7	4.0	ns
After	67.3	3.8	65.2	4.1	ns
(b)
Symptom scalesb
Fatigue
Before	40.2	3.3	37.3	3.0	ns
During	49.2	3.2	56.4	3.7	ns
After	46.5	3.5	52.0	3.8	ns
Nausea and vomiting
Before	11.0	2.1	7.3	1.4	ns
During	32.5	4.3	16.7	2.9	0.003
After	31.5	4.5	12.7	3.5	0.001
Pain
Before	25.4	3.1	27.8	3.1	ns
During	16.7	3.3	26.2	4.3	ns
After	22.2	3.9	32.4	4.4	ns
Appetite loss
Before	24.4	3.5	21.6	3.2	ns
During	36.2	4.6	37.0	4.6	ns
After	30.8	4.3	30.2	4.6	ns
Sore mouth
Before	8.2	2.3	9.4	2.5	ns
During	16.7	3.4	42.3	5.3	0.001
After	9.4	3.2	35.2	5.6	0.001
Dysphagia
Before	8.5	2.1	11.0	2.5	ns
During	13.6	3.4	31.4	5.0	0.003
After	9.4	2.9	27.2	4.8	0.002
Peripheral neuropathy
Before	11.0	2.4	7.1	1.9	ns
During	16.4	3.3	14.0	3.2	ns
After	19.5	4.0	12.6	3.0	ns

^aScores range from 0 to 100, with a higher score representing a higher level of functioning.

^bScores range from 0 to 100, with a higher score representing a greater degree of symptoms.

ns=Not significant.