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. 2017 Oct-Dec;23(4):445-450.
doi: 10.4103/IJPC.IJPC_82_17.

Quality of Life among Cancer Patients

Malathi G Nayak  1 , Anice George  2 , M S Vidyasagar  3 , Stanley Mathew  4 , Sudhakar Nayak  5 , Baby S Nayak  6 , Y N Shashidhara  1 , Asha Kamath  7
Affiliations

Quality of Life among Cancer Patients

Malathi G Nayak et al. Indian J Palliat Care. 2017 Oct-Dec.

Abstract

Introduction: Cancer is a leading cause of death. People living with cancer experience a variety of symptoms. Quality of life (QOL) is a major concern of patients with terminal cancer. Symptoms affect their QOL. Management of symptoms improves distress and QOL.

Objective: The objective of the study was to assess the QOL among cancer patients.

Materials and methods: A survey was conducted among 768 cancer patients selected by a convenient sampling technique. Data was collected from cancer patients by interview technique using structured and validated interviewed schedule.

Results: Out of 768 cancer patients, 30.2% patients were in the age group of 51-60 years, majority with head-and-neck cancer (40.1%), and 57.7% had stage III disease. QOL of majority of patients was influenced by their symptoms. 82.3% of them had low QOL scores.

Conclusion: Cancer patients experienced many symptoms that affected their QOL. There is a need to develop interventions for effective management of symptoms that will empower the patients to have a greater sense of control over their illness and treatment and to improve the QOL.

Keywords: Cancer patients; quality of life; symptoms.

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Conflict of interest statement

There are no conflicts of interest.

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