EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF CANCER CARE, cilt.16, sa.3, ss.251-257, 2007 (SCI-Expanded)
The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of palliative radiotherapy in patients with advanced cancer in terms of improvement in the quality of life [quality of life questionnaire (QLQ)], and to assess the correlation between the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status and the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) QLQ-C30 (Turkish version 3.0). A total of 88 patients with advanced malignant disease treated with palliative radiotherapy were included in the study. All patients completed the EORTC QLQ-C30 questionnaire before and after treatment, and the patient performance status during the pre-treatment and post-treatment phase (ECOG <= 2, > 2) was correlated to the EORTC QLQ C-30 with subscales. Most patients (87.5%) had metastatic disease, and the remaining (12.5%) had locally advanced disease. Comparing the patients in terms of performance status, those with a better performance status (<= 2) reported a statistically significant higher level on the functioning scales and lower levels on all the symptom scales on both the pre-treatment and post-treatment assessments. Cronbach's alphas were calculated to estimate the internal consistency and reliability for both pre- and post-treatment functioning and symptom scales. The results of this study contribute to our understanding of the impact of comprehensive palliative radiotherapy, and to its assessment.