Table 2. Quality of life, health status and personal wellbeing up to 2 years following surgery.
| Mean (SD) unless otherwise indicated | Time from surgery1 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Baseline | 3 months | 9 months | 15 months | 24 months | |
| N = 745 | N = 548 | N = 585 | N = 539 | N = 491 | |
| Quality of Life in Adult Cancer Survivors (QLACS)2 | |||||
| Negative feelings | 9.49 (4.20) | 9.29 (4.56) | 9.25 (4.39) | 8.34 (4.08) | 8.65 (4.16) |
| Positive feelings | 21.18 (5.85) | 20.81 (5.89) | 21.04 (5.68) | 21.35 (6.11) | 21.35 (5.82) |
| Cognitive problems | 9.14 (4.43) | 9.81 (4.78) | 9.62 (4.70) | 8.84 (4.43) | 9.23 (4.37) |
| Pain | 9.78 (5.47) | 10.16 (5.47) | 9.92 (5.62) | 8.02 (4.68) | 8.29 (4.89) |
| Sexual interest / function | 10.65 (5.50) | 11.42 (6.00) | 11.97 (6.46) | 10.54 (6.04) | 10.86 (6.12) |
| Energy / fatigue | 12.99 (5.52) | 13.73 (5.23) | 13.07 (5.53) | 11.31 (5.11) | 11.62 (5.18) |
| Social avoidance | 8.30 (4.86) | 8.50 (5.12) | 8.54 (5.31) | 7.34 (4.55) | 7.64 (4.65) |
| Generic Summary Score | 70.73 (24.60) | 73.77 (27.56) | 73.00 (28.70) | 64.79 (25.84) | 66.17 (25.34) |
| Appearance concerns | N/A | N/A | 7.06 (4.61) | 6.28 (3.78) | 6.28 (4.01) |
| Financial problems | N/A | N/A | 6.63 (4.47) | 6.63 (4.40) | 6.35 (3.87) |
| Distress–recurrence | N/A | N/A | 11.27 (5.66) | 10.12 (5.41) | 10.31 (5.22) |
| Distress–family | N/A | N/A | 10.87 (6.72) | 10.35 (6.44) | 10.04 (6.27) |
| Benefits of cancer | N/A | N/A | 16.19 (6.46) | 16.14 (6.84) | 15.95 (6.71) |
| Cancer Summary Score | N/A | N/A | 35.75 (16.03) | 33.38 (15.02) | 32.96 (14.46) |
| EuroQoL (EQ-5D)3 | |||||
| Mobility, n (%) | |||||
| No problems | 572 (77.5) | 369 (71.1) | N/A | 383 (72.3) | 336 (71.2) |
| Some problems | 166 (22.5) | 148 (28.5) | 147 (27.7) | 136 (28.8) | |
| Confined to bed | 0 | 2 (0.4) | 0 | 0 | |
| Self-care, n (%) | |||||
| No problems | 676 (95.6) | 447 (87.5) | N/A | 492 (92.7) | 444 (94.3) |
| Some problems | 29 (4.1) | 63 (12.3) | 39 (7.3) | 27 (5.7) | |
| Unable to wash | 2 (0.3) | 1 (0.2) | 0 | 0 | |
| Usual activities, n (%) | |||||
| No problems | 495 (67.1) | 262 (51.0) | N/A | 351 (66.0) | 323 (68.3) |
| Some problems | 209 (28.3) | 227 (44.2) | 174 (32.7) | 140 (29.6) | |
| Unable to perform | 34 (4.6) | 25 (4.9) | 7 (1.3) | 10 (2.1) | |
| Pain/discomfort, n (%) | |||||
| No pain | 358 (48.7) | 247 (47.9) | N/A | 346 (65.0) | 301 (63.8) |
| Moderate pain | 354 (48.2) | 253 (49.0) | 178 (33.5) | 165 (35.0) | |
| Extreme pain | 23 (3.1) | 16 (3.1) | 8 (1.5) | 6 (1.3) | |
| Anxiety/depression, n (%) | |||||
| Not anxious/depressed | 485 (65.8) | 345 (67.5) | N/A | 394 (73.8) | 334 (70.9) |
| Moderately anxious/depressed | 237 (32.2) | 158 (30.9) | 129 (24.2) | 131 (27.8) | |
| Extremely anxious/depressed | 15 (2.0) | 8 (1.6) | 11 (2.1) | 6 (1.3) | |
| “Full health” n (%) | |||||
| No | 497 (68.8) | 339 (67.7) | N/A | 297 (56.8) | 273 (58.7) |
| Yes | 225 (31.2) | 162 (32.3) | 226 (43.2) | 192 (41.3) | |
| Summary index (utility score) | 0.78 (0.22) | 0.77 (0.23) | N/A | 0.83 (0.20) | 0.84 (0.19) |
| Overall self-rated health status (VAS) | 70.28 (22.00) | 73.91 (17.29) | N/A | 79.54 (16.07) | N/A |
| Personal Wellbeing Index (PWI)4 | |||||
| PWI summary score | 78.92 (16.31) | 75.15 (19.28) | 75.44 (17.44) | 75.11 (19.26) | 72.93 (20.01) |
| PWI reduced wellbeing, n (%) | |||||
| <70 reduced wellbeing | 152 (21.3) | 165 (31.7) | 172 (31.5) | 159 (31.9) | 156 (35.1) |
| ≥70 | 563 (78.7) | 356 (68.3) | 374 (68.5) | 340 (68.1) | 288 (64.9) |
SD = standard deviation; VAS = visual analogue scale; N/A = not available (not all measures collected at every time-point)
1 Overall denominators are less than those shown in Fig 1 as data were only included in the cross-sectional analyses presented in the table if the questionnaire was completed within a given time-frame around the due date: pre-surgery or < 3 months post-surgery for the baseline questionnaire, ± 2 months for the 3 and 9-month questionnaires and ± 3 months for the 15 and 24-month questionnaires. Denominators also vary for the different subscales within each time-point. Proportion of participants with missing data on individual subscales ranges from 0.2% (QLACS energy/fatigue) to 10.6% (QLACS sexual interest/function).
2 Individual QLACS subscales can range from 4–28; Generic Summary Score can range from 28–196; Cancer Summary Score can range from 16–112. Higher scores for QLACS scales indicate poorer QoL, with the exception of positive feelings and benefits of cancer, where higher scores indicate better QoL.
3 The EQ-5D summary index (utility score) ranges from -0.59 to 1, and the EQ-5D VAS has an overall range of 0–100; higher scores represent better health. A score of 1 represents “full health” (no problems on any of the 5 health domains).
4 PWI can range from 0–100, with higher scores representing greater wellbeing/satisfaction with life.