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Open Access Publications from the University of California

Scholarly Works (2 results)

  • Article
  • Peer Reviewed
UCLA Previously Published Works (2008)

Objective

To evaluate the influence of comorbid cardiovascular disease severity on health-related quality of life (HRQL) in men treated with radical prostatectomy (RP) or radiotherapy (RT) for early stage prostate cancer.

Methods

Subjects (n=830) with non-metastatic disease who had been diagnosed in 2000-2002 were drawn from Cancer of the Prostate Strategic Urologic Research Endeavor (CaPSURE). We evaluated the influence of cardiovascular disease (CVD) severity on generic and disease-specific HRQL before and 6, 12, 18, and 24 months after treatment with RP or RT. HRQL was measured with the SF-36 and the UCLA Prostate Cancer Index.

Results

Men with moderate (n=193) or severe (n=51) cardiovascular disease had worse pre-treatment HRQL than did men without CVD (n=293) (P<0.01); HRQL scores were worse in men referred for RT. During 24 months of follow-up, men with moderate or severe CVD had worse SF-36 physical and mental component summaries and worse bowel function at all time points (P<0.05). Men with severe CVD also experienced a slower recovery in physical function (P=0.03) and sexual functioning (P=0.02) than did men without CVD.

Conclusions

Prostate cancer patients with moderate to severe CVD have worse HRQL during follow-up. Those with severe CVD recover their physical and sexual functioning more slowly after treatment.
    Cover page: Severity of cardiovascular disease and health-related quality of life in men with prostate cancer: a longitudinal analysis from CaPSURE
    • Article
    • Peer Reviewed
    Dermatology Online Journal, Volume 22, Issue 9 (2016)

    Health-related quality of life is increasingly important in the management of patients with basal cell carcinoma (BCC) and squamous cell carcinoma (SCC). A few disease-specific questionnaires exist, but all with substantial flaws. We developed and validated a quality of life questionnaire suitable for use in all BCC and SCC patients. In an extensive four-phase trajectory, as recommended by the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC), 33 items were selected and rephrased into a preliminary questionnaire. A population-based sample of 1173 patients from the Dutch Cancer Registry were invited to complete the questionnaire. The questionnaire was reduced using exploratory factor analysis and item response theory (IRT). Subsequently, individual item performance was assessed using 8 features of the classical test theory (CTT).

    The 33-item preliminary questionnaire was completed by 721 patients, of whom 15% had SCC. The number of items in the questionnaire was reduced to 16, covering five subscales: “Worries”, “Appearance”, “Behaviour”, “Diagnosis & Treatment” and “Other People”. Confirmatory factor analysis showed a good fit. Cronbach’s α (range 0.67 – 0.82) were reasonable to high and demonstrated good internal consistency. Of the 8 CTT item performance features, only 1 item was suboptimal for 6 out of 16 items and only 2 for 2 items, suggesting a valid Basal and Squamous cell carcinoma Quality of Life (BaSQoL) questionnaire.

      Cover page: Development and validation of the Basal and Squamous cell carcinoma Quality of Life (BaSQoL) questionnaireCreative Commons 'BY-NC-ND' version 4.0 license
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