Quality of Life among Cancer Patients at Tertiary Hospital, Chitwan, Nepal

Introduction: Cancer is a chronic fatal disease. Among various diseases, cancer has become a big threat to people. Although, Cancer is the 2nd leading cause of death and quality of life (QoL) is grossly affected by disease related factors, the quality of life among cancer patients is still lagging behind. The aim of the study was to assess the quality of life among cancer patients at tertiary hospital, Chitwan. Methods: Descriptive cross sectional research design was used for the study. The study population was cancer patients receiving services from B.P Koirala Memorial Cancer Hospital. Sample size of the study was 101. Non probability purposive sampling technique was used. EORTC QLQ-C30 (version 3) module tool was used for data collection through interview technique. Data was analyzed via Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) software version 16. Results: The study findings revealed that among 101 respondents, 65.3% of respondents have average QoL, 29.7% have poor QoL and 5% of them have good QoL. The average QoL scores (out of 100) for different scales were 38.61 (global health/QoL), 57.82 (functional), 70.31(financial difficulties scale) and 27.62 (symptom). Among the symptom scales and other single items, financial problem was the highest with mean score of 70.31. The study also shows significant association of overall QoL with age and co-morbidity. Conclusions: It was found that the quality of life of cancer patients was average although there were higher ratings for some (Cognitive, social scales) and lower for others (like physical functioning). Key words: cancer patient, EORTC QLQ- C30, quality of life