Quality of life and associated factors of lymphoma patients in Hematology Clinic at King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital
Keywords:
Quality of life, lymphoma, depression, anxietyAbstract
Background: Lymphoma, a type of blood cancer, is commonly found worldwide. Previous studies showed that the disease negatively affect the quality of life patients. At times, there is still limits of research on the quality of life of lymphoma patients in Thailand.
Objectives: To study quality of life and its associated factors in lymphoma patients at Hematology Clinic, King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital.
Methods: A descriptive study was conducted in patients aged above 18 years diagnosed with lymphoma at Hematology Outpatient Clinic, King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital between December 2017 and April 2018. The instruments consisted of five questionnaires, namely:
1) The Demographic Data Form;
2) Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-General Version 4 (FACT-G);
3) Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (Thai HADS);
4) 1-Year Life Stress Event Questionnaire; and,
5) Social Support Questionnaire. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. The associated factors of quality of life were analyzed using chi-square test and Fisher’s exact test. The predictors of quality of life were analyzed using logistic regression analysis.
Results: Among 102 participants with the mean age of 56.2 16.1 years old, 57.8% of them were females. The quality of life of most patients with lymphoma (66.7%) were of moderate level. We found that factors associated with quality of life were duration of the illness, undergoing treatment, the symptoms of mouth sores or dry mouth after receiving chemotherapy, constipation after receiving chemotherapy, diabetes mellitus and social support. The results also showed that predictive factors of high level of quality of life were the lack of symptoms of mouth sores or dry mouth and constipation after receiving chemotherapy.
Conclusion: The quality of life of most patients with lymphoma (66.7%) were of moderate level. The predictive factors of high level of quality of life were: lack of symptoms of mouth sores or dry mouth and
constipation after receiving chemotherapy.
