Quality-of-life information and clinical practice: the oncologist's perspective

Abstract

Objective: To collect information from a group of Canadian oncologists about their perspectives on quality of life (QOL) and QOL information.

Design: A self-administered questionnaire (MD-QOL) containing 75 items with a 4-point Likert categorical response scale was administered by mail using Dillman survey methodology to all staff oncologists at a single institution.

Setting: A large Canadian cancer care centre (Princess Margaret Hospital, Toronto).

Main outcome measures: Oncologists' knowledge, attitude, current behaviour and intended willingness to use QOL information.

Results: Of 67 eligible respondents 54 replied (80% response rate). In all, 74% felt that QOL can be quantified, and 95% felt that it gives information distinct from performance status measures. A total of 87% felt that published QOL data are useful for individual patient care, but 69% indicated that, at present, they would be more likely to base their recommendations on personal experience rather than on published literature. Of the respondents, 57% felt that decisions were made more difficult when QOL issues are considered.

Conclusions: The surveyed oncologists support the relevance and importance of QOL information. Data from this study were used to develop a predictive model to assess oncologists' willingness to use QOL information; the model is being tested in other studies.