Investigation of Health-Related Quality of Life Outcomes in Cancer Patients: Findings from an Observational Study Using the EQ-5D in Italy

• Published in: SN comprehensive clinical medicine 2020-09, Vol.2 (9), p.1579-1584
• Main Authors: Casadei, Gianluigi, Tolley, Keith, Bettio, Monica, Bozza, Federica, Cafaro, Alessandro, Dall’Ara, Maria C., Pedrazzini, Ambra, Scintu, Valeria, Zanotti, Giulia, Bignamini, Angelo A.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Topical Collection on Medicine
• ISSN: 2523-8973; 2523-8973
• DOI: 10.1007/s42399-020-00449-z

There is a lack of data on the general health-related quality of life (HRQoL) of cancer patients treated in Italian hospitals. The EQ-5D can be used to generate a visual analogue scale score and a utility value that enable comparison of HRQoL for patients across cancer types and stages and can provide values for use in economic evaluations of anti-cancer treatments. The study collected data for 802 cancer patients receiving treatment in one of six hospitals between April 16, 2018, and September 5, 2018. Participants had a diagnosis of chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML), lung cancer, breast cancer or colon cancer, and had Italian citizenship. The average age was 63 years old (range 26–92), and 62% were female. The mean EQ-5D scores were 71.50 (SD ± 17.38) for the visual analogue scale (VAS) and 0.86 (SD ± 0.13) for the utility index value. CML patients demonstrated the highest VAS scores and utility values compared with any of the solid cancers. Patient-level utility values and VAS scores were significantly correlated ( r  = 0.568, p