The quality of life of Indonesian women with gynecological cancer

Abstract

Objective

The quality of life (QOL) is a fundamental outcome for cancer patients, including women with gynecological cancer. This study aimed to examine the quality of life of Indonesian women with gynecological cancer who had been treated with radiation and chemotherapy.

Methods

This study used the cross-sectional descriptive design. A total of 298 women with gynecological cancer signed the informed consent and completed the EORTC QLQ-C30 questionnaires. The quality of life was evaluated during the last treatment cycle. The study protocol was approved by the Ethics Committee of Faculty of Nursing, Universitas Indonesia.

Results

The results showed that the mean score of global health status on general well-being and quality of health of the patients was 76.4 (SD = 16.5). In the sub groups of the EORTC-QLQ-C30 domain, physical and role functions were the two functions which were most frequently reported to have effects on quality of life. The mean scores of these two domains were 75.9 (22.9) and 73.8 (29.8) respectively.

Conclusions

The participants indicated they had a fairly high quality of life. However, they reported experiencing plenty of symptoms related to sexuality resulting from the cancer, adjuvant therapy, and the side effects. Assessing the perceived quality of life of the women with gynecological cancer can provide information on the impacts of cancer and its treatment. It is the key to provide a comprehensive survivorship care service for the patients.