Quality of life in Slovenian patients with skull base tumours

Background: Skull base tumours frequently manifest as severe physical morbidity and quality of life (QoL) impairment. The disease-related QoL measurement can be performed with disease specific questionnaires, e.g. Skull base inventory (SBI). Patients and methods: The study consisted of two parts: (1) cross-cultural adaptation and psychometric testing of the Slovenian SBI (SBI-SLO) and (2) QoL assessment in skull base tumours. Two groups completed the SBI-SLO: 1.) adult patients without prior treatment of anterior, anterolateral and/or central skull base and 2.) healthy controls. Patients with skull-base tumours were further analysed for difference in SBI-SLO total score and domain scores between 1.) benign and malignant tumours and 2.) pituitary macroadenomas and other benign tumours. Results: 59 patients (46% male, 54% female, median age 57.7 years) and 47 subjects from control group (49% male, 51% female, median age 42,2 years) completed SBI-SLO, which demonstrated an excellent level of internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha = 0.924) and excellent test-retest reliability (intraclass correlation coefficient [ICCA] = 0.952). The discriminant validity was confirmed (p = 0.000). SBI-SLO total score, emotional, other and family domain scores were lower in malignant than in benign tumours (p = 0.031, p = 0.038, p = 0.008, and p = 0.046, respectively). Macroadenoma and other benign tumours differed only in neurological domain score (p < 0.05). Conclusions: A skull base tumour, especially malignant, can exert a substantial detrimental effect on a patient's quality of life. The SBI is a key tool for assessing QoL, also available in Slovenian.