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The perception of health-related quality of life in colon cancer patients during chemotherapy: differences between men and women

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Abstract

There is a need for more information on the quality of life (QoL) in patients undergoing chemotherapy. We wanted to investigate the perception of health status in colon cancer patients before, 3 and 6 months after chemotherapy. A secondary purpose was to assess the different perceptions of QoL between men and women during and after adjuvant or palliative therapy. We investigated 100 patients throughout chemotherapy for colon cancer. Data were collected through the SF-36 questionnaire. The score of all variables analyzed in the study group was lower than in the control group, which indicates a lower performance status, more marked in the female sex. Patients were then subdivided by the state of disease (localized or metastatic) and the variables, were evaluated before, 3 and 6 months after therapy. In patients treated with adjuvant treatment, there was a worsening of the performance status, followed by an increase after 6 months. We found that after 3 months of therapy, affected male patients perceived more limitations in carrying out their work, other daily activities and social relationships, owing to both their emotional state and their physical health. In metastatic patients the values of the eight variables decreased dramatically after 6 months, indicating a worsening of the QoL. In patients who received adjuvant treatment there was a certain worsening of the health status at 3 months, followed by a general improvement after 6 months. This improvement was not observed in patients undergoing palliative therapy. Several differences were observed between men and women in performance status after treatment.

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Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank the Consiglio Nazionale della Ricerca (CNR), The Italian Association for Cancer Research (AIRC), and The Lega Italiana Lotta Tumori (LILT), for generous support during the study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Internal Medicine, Medicina І, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Via del Pozzo 71, 41100, Modena, Italy

    Federica Domati, Luca Reggiani-Bonetti & Maurizio Ponz de Leon

  2. Department of Oncology and Hematology, Policlinico of Modena, Modena, Italy

    Gabriele Luppi, Sandra Zironi, Roberta Depenni, Annalisa Fontana & Fabio Gelsomino

Authors
  1. Federica Domati
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  2. Gabriele Luppi
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  3. Luca Reggiani-Bonetti
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  4. Sandra Zironi
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  5. Roberta Depenni
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  6. Annalisa Fontana
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  7. Fabio Gelsomino
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  8. Maurizio Ponz de Leon
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Correspondence to Federica Domati.

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Domati, F., Luppi, G., Reggiani-Bonetti, L. et al. The perception of health-related quality of life in colon cancer patients during chemotherapy: differences between men and women. Intern Emerg Med 10, 423–429 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11739-014-1174-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11739-014-1174-4

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