Quality of life in the chemotherapy treatment of Spanish cancer patients: a comparison of general population norms

OBJECTIVE: The SF-36 Health Survey (SF-36) is a general instrument used to assess health-related quality of life (HRQL). The purpose of this study is to describe self-reported information on health and the quality of life among cancer outpatients during chemotherapy treatment and to compare it with the baseline sample drawn from the general Spanish population. METHODS: A randomised sample of 583 cancer outpatients completed the questionnaire. Using a cross-sectional analysis of the SF-36 data, standardised scores were used to compare patients with comparative Spanish baseline data. Other health-related concerns (gender, age, site of cancer) were also analysed. RESULTS: The patients showed acceptable levels on HRQL and no significant differences were found between the oncology patients compared with the general population for any of the SF-36 domains. The older patients had scores significantly lower in physical functioning (p<0.01) and physical role (p<0.05). The results identified lower HRQL ratings among women compared with men on all the scales except general health. In relation to the location of the cancer, patients with genitourinary tumours scored statistically lower (p<0.05) on bodily pain in the SF-36 domain compared with patients with gastrointestinal tumours. CONCLUSIONS: Although more studies are needed, the SF-36 allows us to describe the HRQL of cancer outpatients during chemotherapy treatment compared with the general population.