Health-related quality of life of individuals dealing with cancer in the Free State: A survey.
Roline Y Barnes, Karen Bodenstein, Mariëtte Nel
PMID 39968027WHAT IT FOUND
Cancer patients in one Free State hospital rated social and family support highest, emotional well-being lowest; many reported losing hope, nausea, and being bed-bound, despite feeling accepted and enjoying life.
Key findings
01Participants reported the highest median score for social or family well-being and the lowest median score for emotional well-being.
0265.9% reported losing hope in their fight against illness and 56.8% worried about dying, while 50.2% felt satisfied with how they were coping.
03The most common physical complaints rated very much were being forced to spend time in bed (61.8%) and nausea (53.4%).
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTs
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What it does not show
The survey was done at one hospital and used convenience sampling, so it may not represent all cancer patients in South Africa. People who could not read, write or understand Afrikaans, English or Sesotho were excluded, so patients needing language support may be missing. 46.9% of participants were unaware of their cancer stage and 63.5% were receiving chemotherapy, so the sample was not grouped by disease stage. No South African normative FACT-G data were available for comparison. Some cancer type comparisons were based on small groups, such as 6 participants with brain cancer. This was a descriptive survey, not a trial of physiotherapy, so it cannot show treatment effects.
Declared interests
This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that physiotherapy improved health-related quality of life. This study measured self-reported quality of life in cancer patients and did not test a physiotherapy intervention.