Quality of life among Ethiopian cancer patients
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ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Quality of life among Ethiopian cancer patients Yemataw Wondie 1 & Andreas Hinz 2 Received: 9 December 2019 / Accepted: 4 March 2020 # The Author(s) 2020
Abstract Purpose Cancer is of increasing prevalence in less-developed countries. However, research on the patients’ quality of life (QoL) in these countries is very limited. The aim of this study was to examine QoL of cancer patients in Africa. Method A sample of 256 cancer patients treated in an Ethiopian hospital was examined with the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire EORTC QLQ-C30, the Multidimensional Fatigue Inventory, and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale. A group of 1664 German cancer patients served as a comparison group. Results Most of the scales of the EORTC QLQ-C30 showed acceptable reliability in the Ethiopian sample. Compared with the German cancer patients, the Ethiopian patients showed lower QoL in most dimensions, especially in financial difficulties, physical functioning, pain, and appetite loss (effect sizes between 0.52 and 0.75). Illiteracy, tumor stage, and treatment (surgery and chemotherapy) were associated with QoL in the Ethiopian sample. QoL was strongly correlated with fatigue, anxiety, and depression. Conclusion The EORTC QLQ-C30 is a suitable instrument for measuring QoL in Ethiopia. The detriments in QoL in the Ethiopian patients indicate specific cancer care needs for the patients in a developing country. Keywords Quality of life . Psychometrics . Reliability . Africa . Illiteracy
Introduction Worldwide, the incidence of cancer was estimated to be 18.1 million, and the estimation for cancer mortality was 9.5 million in 2018 [1]. Cancer is the first or second leading cause of death before the age 70 in 91 of 172 countries [2]. In Africa, the incidence and mortality rates are lower than the worldwide average. Though the African proportion of the world population is 16.8%, the shares of cancer incidence and cancer mortality are 5.8% and 7.3%, respectively [2]. With increasing life expectancy, however, the cancer incidence and mortality rates are increasing in Africa [3–6], but it is difficult to obtain reliable epidemiological data in this region. Quality of life (QoL) has gained increasing relevance in oncological research and treatment in the last decades [7, 8]. One of the most frequently used questionnaires for measuring * Andreas Hinz [email protected] 1
Department of Psychology, University of Gondar, Gondar, Ethiopia
2
Department of Medical Psychology and Medical Sociology, University of Leipzig, Philipp-Rosenthal-Str. 55, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
QoL in cancer patients is the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire EORTC QLQ-C30 [9]. It has been translated into more than 80 languages, and a large number of studies have used this questionnaire in samples of cancer patients, patients suffering from other diseases, and also in the general population. Normative values are available f
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