EVALUATION OF QUALITY OF LIFE OF ADULT CANCER PATIENTS ATTENDING TIKUR ANBESSA SPECIALIZED REFERRAL HOSPITAL, ADDIS ABABA ETHIOPIA

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Little is known about the quality of life of cancer patients in the Ethiopian context.This study evaluated quality of life of cancer patients in Ethiopia.METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted in Addis Ababa University Tikur AnbessaSpecialized Referral Hospital Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (TASRH) from March to May 2013. A total of 388cancer patients were included. Translated in to Amharic, the European Organization for Research andTreatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire (EORTC QOL C-30) was used to measure Quality oflife (QoL). The data was analyzed with SPSS Version 17.0.RESULTS: Among the participants, 251(64.7%) were men and 138(35.6%) were below the age of 40years. Large proportion of patients were diagnosed with breast cancer, 114(29.4%), and cervical cancer,102(26.3%), and the clinical stages during the beginning of therapy were at stage II a 133(34.3%). Themean of global health status/QoL was 57.28 (SD= 25.28). Quality of life was found to be associated withsome functional scales as role functioning, P≤0.001, social function, P=0.00, and symptom scales aspain, P=0.00, loss of appetite, P=0.004, and financial impact, P=0.02, but no associations were noted inrelation to socio demographic characteristics.CONCLUSION: Quality of life assessments should be included in patient treatment protocols to improvetheir quality of life since being a cancer patient may be associated with a high level of impairment indifferent aspects of life.