Artikel
Prospective longitudinal evaluation of quality of life in adult patients with supratentorial WHO Grade II glioma
Prospektive longitudinale Evaluation von Lebensqualität bei erwachsenen Patienten mit supratentoriellen WHO Grad II Gliomen
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Autoren
Veröffentlicht: | 4. Mai 2005 |
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Gliederung
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Objective
Patients suffering from supratentorial WHO Grade II glioma usually show no/minimal clinical symptoms at the time of presentation; concerning the impairment of the quality of life (QoL) paradigm only data of a few cross sectional studies are available. The current prospective study was conducted to analyse for the first time QoL at the time of presentation and after application of highly localised treatment concepts such as microsurgery and/or interstitial radiosurgery.
Methods
In this study, adult patients with supratentorial WHO Grade II were included which showed a controlled tumour status during the time frame of this study (2001 – 2002). Karnofsky Performance Scale (KPS), seizure status (semiology/frequency), use of anticonvulsants as well as standardised QoL measures (SF 36 Health Survey, EORTC-QLQ-C30, Beck-Depression-Inventory) were applied prior to therapy. Clinical and QoL follow-up evaluation were performed 3 and 12 months after therapy. QoL scores beyond 2 standard deviations of a healthy control group were classified as significantly impaired.
Results
Twenty patients (mean age: 43.6 years) were included. While the KPS (median 90) and the use of anticonvulsants per patient remained unchanged over time, the frequency of seizures declined (12/20 to 6/20). A substantial number of patients displayed impaired QoL prior to therapy. This finding was more pronounced in the SF36 Health survey (8/20) than in the EORTC-QLQ-C30 (5/20). Two patients showed clinical relevant depression. SF 36 Health Survey and EORTC-QLQ-C30 did not change significantly over time and were not correlated with the KPS. The frequency of seizures and the use of anticonvulsants were negatively associated with impaired QoL. None of these differences/associations were significant (p>0.05).
Conclusions
Impairment of QoL must mainly be considered as tumour-related. Localised treatment concepts such as microsurgery and/or interstitial radiosurgery did not affect initially found QoL scores during the follow-up period. The potentially negative impact of seizures and anticonvulsants on Qol is underscored.