Quality of life in patients suffering from prostate adenocarcinoma. A global approach

Hippokratia 2005, 9(1):7-16

K Charalabopoulos, Ch Golias, A Charalabopoulos, X Giannakopoulos, A Batistatou
Physiology Dpt, Clinical Unit, Medical Faculty, University of Ioannina, Ioannina, Greece
Dpt of Surgery, Peterborough & Stamford Hospitals, Cambridgeshire, UK,
Dpt of Urology, Medical Faculty, University of Ioannina, Ioannina, Greece
Dpt of Pathology, Medical Faculty, University of Ioannina, Ioannina, Greece


Abstract

Prostate cancer is a major health concern for Western men patients who are facing important decisions, alongside with the physicians, concerning their treatment. Additionally the physician has to take into account the potential side effects of the disease and the treatment itself. Treatment for advanced prostate cancer produces problematic physical and psychosocial side effects having subsequently a significant impact upon the patients’ quality of life (QoL). The patient should be asked by the physician for information concerning daily life activities, overall satisfaction voiding ability and sexual activity in a standardized questionnaire assessing the QoL of the patient. The EORTC-GU has conducted multicenter, multinational and intercontinental trials, disseminating their results via workshops, congresses and symposia. Other questionnaires such as the SF-36, McGill and others assess the QoL of a patient sufficiently responding in parallel to the changing needs of a specific population, taking into account characteristics including poor performance status, difficulty with longitudinal study, rapidly deteriorating physical condition. Generally speaking many such questionnaires and studies have been evaluated or are still in progress regarding cancer patients and even less specifically for advanced prostate cancer. Modern QoL questionnaires are considered to be more than a necessity nowadays for the improvement of the treatment administered from the physician and the performance and functional status of the patient.