Assessment of Health Related Quality of Life in Cervical Cancer Patients in Western Kenya

Health Related Quality of Life (HRQoL) is an important health outcome in the holistic management of patients especially those suffering from life limiting conditions such as cervical cancer. In Kenya, Cervical cancer is the most frequent cancer among women. However, little is known and documented on HRQoL of cervical cancer patients. This study assessed HRQoL of cervical cancer patients in western Kenya. A cross-sectional study involving 334 cervical cancer patients was conducted in Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Teaching and Referral Hospital (JOOTRH) in Kisumu from September 2014 to February 2015. FACT-Cx (The Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy –for measuring Quality of Life in cervical cancer patients) Version 4 and a structured questionnaire were used to collect data. Quantitative data was analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Scientists (SPSS) Version 20 and Statistical Application Software (SAS) version 9.2 at a statistical significance of P ≤ 0.05, descriptive and inferential statistics were performed. The mean HRQoL was 35.35 (SD=13.21). More than half of the respondents experienced poor functional and physical wellbeing, 221 (66%) and 201 (60%) respectively and no patient experienced good functional and physical wellbeing. While 189 (57%) experienced fair overall quality of life. Multiple cumulative logistic regression analysis between cancer stage and treatment had statistically significant association with overall quality of life (X2 = 105.34 and 70.72; with df=3 and 6; p-values = 0.0001 and 0.0001, respectively); also between age, marital status, level of education and religion showed positive influence on overall quality of life except for religion (X2 = 21, 11, 113 and 4 with df=3 for all and p-values = 0.0001, 0.0121, 0.0001, 0.2563 respectively). Cervical cancer patients do fairly better with emotional and social wellbeing, while they experience poor functional and physical wellbeing due to large proportion of patients presenting at stage IV and III of the disease. There is a need to include HRQoL assessment in routine management of cervical cancer patients to enhance their quality of life.