Quality of life

About: Quality of life is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 42912 publications have been published within this topic receiving 1198363 citations. The topic is also known as: life quality.

Quality of sleep and health‐related quality of life in haemodialysis patients

Abstract: Background. Sleep complaints are common in haemodialysis patients. In the general population, insomnia impacts negatively on health-related quality of life (HRQoL). The objective of this study was to examine the association between quality of sleep and HRQoL in haemodialysis patients independent of known predictors of HRQoL. Methods. Quality of sleep was measured using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) and HRQoL was measured using the Medical Outcomes Study 36-item Short Form (SF-36) in 89 haemodialysis patients. Results. Sixty-three (71%) subjects were ‘poor sleepers’ (global PSQI )5). The SF-36 mental component summary (MCS) and physical component summary (PCS) correlated inversely with the global PSQI score (MCS, rs0.28, P-0.01; PCS, rs0.45, P-0.01). The PCS score also correlated with age (rs0.24, Ps0.02), haemoglobin (rs0.21, Ps0.048) and comorbidity (rs0.40, P-0.01), and mean PCS was lower in depressed subjects (26.2 vs 35.9, Ps 0.02). Subjects with global PSQI )5 had a higher prevalence of depression, lower haemoglobin and lower HRQoL in all SF-36 domains. The global PSQI score was a significant independent predictor of the MCS and PCS after controlling for age, sex, haemoglobin, serum albumin, comorbidity and depression in multivariate analysis. Conclusions. Poor sleep is common in dialysis patients and is associated with lower HRQoL. We hypothesize that end-stage renal disease directly influences quality of sleep, which in turn impacts on HRQoL.

Quality of Life in Type 2 Diabetic Patients

Abstract: SUMMARY The presence of diabetes mellitus leads to a decrease in life quality in all domains. The aim of our study was to evaluate the quality of life (QOL) in diabetic patients and the factors affecting it in type 2 diabetic mellitus patients. We conducted a cross-sectional study that included 86 patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus, in the territory of the City of Nis. Health-related QOL of patients was measured using the short form survey (SF-36) that produces an 8-scale health profile. The average duration of diabetes was 12.76±8.08 years. The best QOL in all areas was observed in patients diagnosed with diabetes less than 10 years ago p<0.05) and younger than 65 years. Male respondents perceived a better QOL compared to women, especially in the vitality and pain domains. The patients with comorbidity (93.64%) had lower QOL score in all domains. There was no significant difference in the QOL of patients with diabetes compared to the level of education. High QOL represents an ultimate goal and an important outcome of all medical interventions in diabetic patients. Factors related to lower QOL included: older age, female gender, and existence of comorbidities. Uncontrolled diabetic patients had a lower QOL than controlled diabetics.

Determinants of disability and quality of life in mild to moderate Parkinson disease

Abstract: Objective: To identify factors that independently contribute to disability and quality of life (QoL) in patients with mild to moderate Parkinson disease (PD) Methods: A group of 190 patients with PD recruited from outpatient clinics and the Dutch Parkinson’s Disease Association participated in this cross-sectional study Data on demographic and clinical factors, motor symptoms, cognitive functions, affective symptoms, comorbidity, and social support were collected during neurologic and neuropsychological examinations Disability was rated using the Schwab and England Activities of Daily Living Scale (SE-ADL), the AMC Linear Disability Score (ALDS), and the Functional Independence Measure (FIM) QoL was assessed with the Parkinson’s Disease Quality of Life questionnaire (PDQL) and the Medical Outcome Study Short Form (SF-36) Multiple linear regression analyses were conducted to identify determinants of disability and poor QoL Results: Axial impairment (postural instability and gait difficulty) explained the largest proportion of variance in disability Bradykinesia and comorbidity contributed to disability, but to a lesser extent Self-reported mood symptoms and axial impairment were the two factors most closely associated with poorer QoL, but comorbidity and bradykinesia additionally contributed to the explanatory power Semantic fluency and psychomotor skills were the only cognitive variables related to some aspects of functional outcome Conclusion: Axial impairment is strongly associated with disability in patients with mild to moderate Parkinson disease (PD) Self-report indices of mood status and axial impairment are identified as the main determinants of poor quality of life (QoL) The results of this study may help to identify patients with PD at risk for functional dependence and reduced QoL

Cancer: disease and nutrition are key determinants of patients’ quality of life

Abstract: The aims of this study were (1) to evaluate quality of life (QoL), nutritional status and dietary intake taking into account the stage of disease and therapeutic interventions, (2) to determine potential interrelationships, and (3) to quantify the relative contributions of the cancer, nutrition and treatments on QoL. In this prospective cross-sectional study conducted in 271 head and neck, oesophagus, stomach and colorectal cancer patients, the following aspects were evaluated: QoL (EORTC-QLQ C30), nutritional status (percent weight loss over the previous 6 months), usual diet (comprehensive diet history), current diet (24-h recall) and a range of clinical variables. Usual and current intakes differed according to the site of the tumour (P=0.02). Patients with stage III/IV disease showed a significant reduction from their usual energy/protein intake (P=0.001), while their current intakes were lower than in patients with stage I/II disease (P=0.0002). Weight loss was greater in patients with stage III/IV disease than in those with stage I/II disease (P=0.001). Estimates of effect size revealed that QoL function scores were determined in 30% by cancer location, in 20% by nutritional intake, in 30% by weight loss, in 10% by chemotherapy, in 6% by surgery, in 3% by disease duration and in 1% by stage of disease. Likewise in the case of symptom scales, 41% were attributed to cancer location, 22% to stage, 7% to nutritional intake, 7% to disease duration, 4% to surgery, 1% to weight loss and 0.01% to chemotherapy. Finally for single items, 30% were determined by stage, 20% by cancer location, 9% by intake, 4% by surgery, 3% by weight loss, 3% by disease duration and 1% by chemotherapy. Although cancer stage was the major determinant of patients’ QoL globally, there were some diagnoses for which the impact of nutritional deterioration combined with deficiencies in nutritional intake may be more important than the stage of the disease process.