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Role of Health-Related Quality of Life in Palliative Chemotherapy Treatment Decisions

From the Division of Psychosocial Research and Epidemiology and Department of Medical Oncology, The Netherlands Cancer Institute, Antoni van Leeuwenhoek Hospital, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

Address reprint requests to Neil K. Aaronson, PhD, Division of Psychosocial Research and Epidemiology, The Netherlands Cancer Institute, Plesmanlaan 121, 1066 CX Amsterdam, the Netherlands; email: naaron{at}nki.nl

PURPOSE: To determine the frequency with which health-related quality-of-life (HRQL) considerations lead to modification or discontinuation of palliative chemotherapy, and the association between physicians’ ratings of patients’ HRQL and such treatment decisions.

METHODS: Four consecutive medical consultations of 203 patients receiving outpatient palliative chemotherapy were tape-recorded and the content was analyzed to determine the frequency of and reasons for treatment alterations. Physicians rated their patients’ HRQL by using the COOP/WONCA health assessment charts. Data on tumor response and treatment toxicity were obtained from the audiotapes and, when necessary, were confirmed by medical chart audits.

RESULTS: Treatment was modified in 54 cases (26%) and discontinued in 40 (20%). The primary reasons for modifying treatment were toxicity (n = 22), HRQL considerations (n = 18), and tumor progression (n = 14). The primary reasons for discontinuation of treatment were tumor progression (n = 23), HRQL considerations (n = 6), and toxicity (n = 3). For eight patients, a combination of tumor progression and HRQL issues resulted in discontinuation of treatment. Treatment decisions were associated significantly with physicians’ global ratings of patients’ HRQL but not with more specific HRQL domains. In the presence of tumor progression or serious toxicity, HRQL considerations played little or no role in treatment decisions. Furthermore, approximately 70% of patients without evidence of tumor progression or toxicity, but with seriously impaired HRQL, continued to receive their treatment as planned.

CONCLUSION: Contrary to previous findings based on physicians’ self-report data, HRQL considerations seem to play a relatively minor role in decisions regarding modification or discontinuation of palliative chemotherapy.

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