Factors Affecting The Quality Of Life Of Cancer Patients

Abstract

Azin Chakeri, Maryam Rostami Qadi.

Introduction: Nowadays we constantly hear the word "cancer" and we have probably heard many times that many people have lost their lives due to this disease. Cancer patients experience many physical and mental problems that significantly reduce their quality of life compared to other patients. The study of quality of life is currently an important topic in the research of chronic diseases, especially cancer. The aim of this study was to identify the factors affecting the quality of life of cancer patients in order to improve the quality of life of these patients.
Methods: In this descriptive study, the samples were 60 newly diagnosed patients with colon and lung cancer who were admitted for treatment for the first time and were selected by continuous sampling. A standardized Quality of Life Questionnaire for cancer patients (QLQ-C30) was used to data collection.
Results: The findings of the present study showed that some of the demographic variables, such as age, sex, marital status, education, job and child had a statistically significant relationship with quality of life (p <0.001) but the relationship between economic status and quality of life was not statistically significant (p = 0.592).
Conclusion: The present study showed that the average quality of life in this study was 41.53, which according to the mean score of the instrument, which is 50, it is observed that the quality of life score of cancer patients was lower than average. Functional and symptom scores were 45.83 and 36.58, respectively, which are still lower than the median level. Therefore, the quality of life of cancer patients is lower than others.