Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation and quality of life during the first year of treatment.
Angela da Costa Barcellos Marques, Ana Paula Szczepanik, Celina Angélica Mattos Machado and 3 others
PMID 30379249WHAT IT FOUND
Overall quality of life showed no significant difference between autologous and allogeneic transplant groups at any stage.
Allogeneic patients had worse pain during pancytopenia and worse appetite loss after 100 days. Symptoms peaked in pancytopenia and improved by one year.
Key findings
01Overall quality of life showed no significant difference between autologous and allogeneic transplantation groups at any stage.
02Pain during pancytopenia and loss of appetite after 100 days were the symptom comparisons that showed a significant difference between autologous and allogeneic groups.
03Fatigue and pain were highest during pancytopenia, and physical and social function recovered after 360 days compared with before transplantation.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
This was a single-centre observational study, so it cannot show that transplant type or any care caused the quality-of-life changes. The sample was non-probabilistic and small: 55 adults were enrolled at baseline, and only 32 were assessed at 360 days. Twenty patients (36.36%) died during the study, and patients unable to complete the questionnaires were excluded, so later results reflect survivors and those well enough to respond. The authors report that few national and international studies compare quality of life between autologous and allogeneic transplantation, limiting comparison with other work.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that allogeneic transplantation causes worse overall quality of life. The overall quality-of-life comparison was not significant at any stage. The significant results were limited to selected symptom and function domains, and the study did not test a treatment.