Assessment of Quality of Life of Cervical Cancer Patients Using ECOG-Performance Status Scale

Background: Cervical cancer is becoming one of the emerging health burdens for womenhood and India accounts for one-third of the cervical cancer deaths globally. More than 80% of women with cervical cancer are diagnosed at an advanced stage. In this study, we aimed to assess the Quality of Life (QOL) of patients with cervical cancer after treatment and to examine the factors affecting their QOL.

Materials and Methods: This is a retrospective observational study, included 218 cervical cancer patients. The study was conducted in a tertiary care hospital in Warangal of Telangana State. The impact of socioeconomic factors and clinical factors on the QOL of the patients were studied using Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group-Performance status (ECOG-PS) scale. The protocol was approved by KIEC-KMC, Warangal. The statistical analysis was performed by using Fischer's Exact test, a value of p<.05 was considered as significant.

Results: Out of 218 patients 189 were alive and 29 were deceased. Patient of age group 21-40 years, patients from urban areas, from upper socioeconomic status (SES), patients with literacy, without any social habits had good QOL, where as patients in labour forces had poor QOL and are statistically significant. Patients with early stage at diagnosis and patients underwent surgical treatment along with chemoradiation therapy had good QOL yet, these results are statistically insignificant.

Conclusion: The lack of access to preventive and definitive care by the health care sectors, poor socioeconomic status, educational status of the women and awareness regarding the disease and its treatment patterns resulted in poor follow up, low adherence to the treatment, which accentuated the cervical cancer burden. Hence, enhancing the above listed factors could be beneficial in improving QOL of cervical cancer patients.