Quality of life measures in glioma patients with different grades: A preliminary study

BACKGROUND: Plethora of information exists in the literature on pathology of the glioma while prevailing research data on quality-of-life (QOL) of glioma patients marks dearth thus demanding more studies. AIMS: In this study, we examined the QOL of different grades of glioma patients among the Chennai population in India. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 162 patients with different grades of glioma enrolled from August 2007 to February 2011, at their first contact to Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery, Government General Hospital, Chennai, India were included and their QOL was assessed by European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Core QOL questionnaire (EORTC QLQc-30), EORTC brain cancer module (QLQ BN-20). RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: Both low and high grade glioma (LGG and HGG) patients had poor mean scores in social functioning (87.0), physical functioning (82.0) and emotional functioning (75.2) and role functioning (58.9). The mean scores on cognitive functioning (61.9) and global QOL (60.3) were better. Age, Karnofsky performance status, World Health Organization grades showed significant associations with all functional scales. The percentage values were higher for symptoms of fatigue (76.9%), pain (71.5%), financial difficulties (77.6%) and appetite loss (38.46%) in both LGG and HGG. Similarly, with respect to QLQ-BN20 domains, HGG patients showed more symptoms than low grade with a significant correlation in communication deficit problems (P = 0.02), headache (P = 0.04), seizures (P < 0.01), hair loss (P < 0.05) than the other symptoms. This initial assessment suggests that an increasing burden of symptoms exists, with poor QOL and survival, which has become a major concern in different grades of glioma patients.