Quality of life assessment of patients undergoing palliative chemotherapy.

Abstract

Background: Palliative chemotherapy uses systemic antineoplastic agents to treat an incurable malignancy. The results of cancer treatment need to be measured in terms of what physical and psychological limitations it brings to the patient. Therefore, there is a need to evaluate and establish the impact of the disease and its treatment on the patient's quality of life.

Objective: To evaluate the quality of life of cancer patients undergoing palliative antineoplastic chemotherapy.

Method: A cross-sectional study with quali-quantitative unfolding. Three research instruments were applied: sociodemographic and clinical data; European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer quality of life questionnaire (EORTC QLQ-C30); interview script with predefined open questions.

Results: The quality of life of the participants was considered good. Fatigue and financial difficulty were the main factors that interfered in daily activities. Three analytical categories emerged from the content analysis of the interviews: communication between the health team and the patient; patient's perception of their health/disease; concerns vs prospects.

Conclusion: The evaluation of quality of life for people who are at the end of life needs to balance technological and therapeutic advances, alongside aspects such as the perspective of these patients and the context of their lives.