Assessment of quality of life by clinicians--experience of a practical method in lung cancer patients

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate a practical method (brief scale) of assessing the quality of life in patients with lung cancer.

Design: To compare the scores obtained by means of the brief scale with those obtained on formal tests. The brief scale consists of an Outlook score (measuring psychological status) and a Support score (measuring psychosocial support). The formal tests were the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) for psychological status, and the Rotterdam Symptom Checklist (RSCL) and Spitzer QL-Index for quality-of-life assessment.

Setting: Lung cancer follow-up clinic, Groote Schuur Hospital.

Participants: A total of 40 patients selected by random sample.

Main outcome measures: The correlation between the brief scale and standard formal tests.

Results: The HADS indicated that psychological morbidity was present in 30% of patients. Both the RSCL and the Spitzer QL-Index indicated a significantly poor quality of life in 25% of patients. The Outlook score correlated with both psychological status and quality of life. The Support score correlated with psychological status but not with the assessment of quality of life. It did, however, correlate with the independent evaluation of social support in the Spitzer QL-Index.

Conclusions: The brief scale is a cost-effective and useful tool for quality of life assessment in the clinical management of patients with lung and other cancers.