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. 2022 Sep 26;17(9):e0275184.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0275184. eCollection 2022.

Quality of life after resection of a meningioma-A cross-cultural comparison of Indian and Australian patients

Verena Schadewaldt  1   2 , Sandhya Cherkil  3 , Dilip Panikar  3 , Katharine J Drummond  1   2
Affiliations

Quality of life after resection of a meningioma-A cross-cultural comparison of Indian and Australian patients

Verena Schadewaldt et al. PLoS One. .

Abstract

Purpose: To compare health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and symptom burden following meningioma resection in patients from two samples from Australia and India. This will add to the body of data on the longer-term consequences of living with a meningioma in two socio-economically and culturally different countries.

Methods: The European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) Core Quality of Life Questionnaire (QLQ-C30), Brain Neoplasm Module (QLQ-BN20) and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) were administered to 159 Australian and 92 Indian meningioma patients over 24 months postoperative. A linear mixed model analysis identified differences between groups over time.

Results: Australian patients reported better physical functioning in the early months after surgery (T1: mean diff: 19.8, p<0.001; T2: mean diff: 12.5, p = 0.016) whereas Indian patients reported better global HRQoL (mean: -20.3, p<0.001) and emotional functioning (mean diff:-15.6, p = 0.020) at 12-24 months. In general, Australian patients reported more sleep and fatigue symptoms while Indian patients reported more gastro-intestinal symptoms over the 2-year follow-up. Future uncertainty and symptoms common for brain tumour patients were consistently more commonly reported by patients in Australia than in India. No differences for depression and anxiety were identified.

Conclusion: This is the first cross cultural study to directly compare postoperative HRQoL in meningioma patients. Some differences in HRQoL domains and symptom burden may be explained by culturally intrinsic reporting of symptoms, as well as higher care support from family members in India. Although there were differences in some HRQoL domains, clinically meaningful differences between the two samples were less common than perhaps expected. This may be due to an Indian sample with high literacy and financial resources to afford surgery and follow up care.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Fig 1
Fig 1. QLQ-C30 function scales and clinically meaningful difference (CMD) to the European normative population.
Fig 2
Fig 2. QLQ-C30 symptom scales and clinically meaningful difference (CMD) to the European normative population.
Fig 3
Fig 3. BN20 scores.
Fig 4
Fig 4. Hospital and Anxiety Depression Scale (HADS)–frequencies of symptoms.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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