Factors associated with quality of life among adult haematological tumour patients in Kuching, Sarawak

• Main Author: Wan Muhd Noor Al Hadi, Ab Razak
• Format: Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS) 2020
• Subjects: RC0254 Neoplasms. Tumors. Oncology (including Cancer)
• Online Access: http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/37749/2/WAN%20MUHD%20NOOR%20%28fulltext%29.pdf; http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/37749/

Introduction: Haematological tumour was one of top five cancer in Sarawak with 1133 of haematology tumour had been reported. Improvement in management and treatment of haematologial tumour patient lead to increasing number of cancer survivor that will affect the quality of life. This study aimed to determine quality of life and its associated factor among haematological tumour patient in Sarawak. Methods: A cross-sectional study was performed from February to July 2020 among 161 haematological patients in Sarawak General Hospital and 86 general outpatientm department attendees in Kota Sentosa Health Clinic. Probability sampling technique was used and respondent were interviewed using self-administered questionnaire. The quality of life was assessed using the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life (EORTC QLQ-C30) questionnaire. Data was analyzed using IBM SPSS version 22.0 Result: The percentage of haematological tumour patients with severe symptom range from 2.5% to 21.0%. Analysis revealed that associated factors for the quality of life were patient age, employment status, having children, type of tumour, time-since diagnosis and ongoing treatment. Older patient had low physical function and patient who were employed had a better physical function. Patient without children were associated with nausea and vomiting and loss of appetite. Types of tumour were also found to be significantly associated with quality of life involving physical function, role function, emotional function, cognitive function, social function, fatigue, nausea and vomiting, pain, dyspnea, insomnia, loss of appetite, constipation and financial difficulties. Patients who were on treatment had a low general health status, role function, emotional function, more fatigue, nausea and vomiting, pain symptom, insomnia symptom, constipation, and financial difficulties. Patients who were diagnosed in less than 6 months had impaired general health status, physical function, role function, emotional function, social function, and symptom of fatigue, nausea and vomiting, pain, insomnia, loss of appetite and financial difficulties. The result were all statistically significant (p-value <0.05). Conclusion: The quality of life of haematological tumour patients is affected by socio-demographic factors and diseases factor. Health related quality of life is important to be address and continuous effort is needed to improve the overall quality of life among haematological patients.