Reference data of the EORTC QLQ-C30 questionnaire: five consecutive annual assessments of approximately 2000 representative Dutch men and women

Figures & data

Table 1. Sociodemographic characteristics of the sample from the Health and Health Complaints project of CentERdata at T1.

	N (%)
	Men (n = 1346)	Women (n = 1193)	Total (n = 2539)	p Value (comparing men and women)
Mean age (years)	54.2 (15.5)	50.1 (15.3)	52.3 (15.5)	<.0001
Age category (years)				<.0001
18–29	90 (6.7)	97 (8.1)	187 (7.4)
30–39	181 (13.4)	257 (21.5)	438 (17.3)
40–49	219 (16.3)	209 (17.5)	428 (16.9)
50–59	295 (21.9)	256 (21.5)	551 (21.7)
60–69	337 (25.0)	244 (20.5)	581 (22.9)
70–92	224 (16.6)	130 (10.9)	354 (13.9)
Living situation				<.0001
Single	220 (16.3)	254 (21.3)	474 (18.7)
Living with partner, without children	654 (48.6)	451 (37.8)	1105 (43.5)
Living with partner and children	429 (31.9)	409 (34.3)	838 (33.0)
Single with children	19 (1.4)	58 (4.9)	77 (3.0)
Other	24 (1.8)	21 (1.8)	45 (1.8)
Education				<.0001
Elementary school	56 (4.2)	63 (5.3)	119 (4.7)
High school	485 (36.1)	498 (41.8)	983 (38.8)
Vocational school	590 (43.9)	505 (42.4)	1095 (43.2)
University	212 (15.8)	124 (10.4)	336 (13.3)
Employment				<.0001
Paid job/self-employed	763 (56.7)	597 (50.0)	1360 (53.5)
Retired	436 (32.4)	177 (14.8)	613 (24.1)
Work disabled	44 (3.3)	64 (5.4)	108 (4.3)
Unemployed	24 (1.7)	22 (1.9)	46 (1.8)
Student	46 (3.4)	41 (3.4)	87 (3.4)
Other	33 (2.4)	292 (24.4)	325 (12.9)
Family-income (net per month)				<.0001
€1150 or less	57 (4.2)	103 (8.6)	160 (6.3)
€1151–€1800	212 (15.8)	235 (19.7)	447 (17.6)
€1801–€2600	372 (27.6)	327 (27.4)	699 (27.5)
>€2600	704 (52.3)	526 (44.1)	1230 (48.4)
Urbanization home (addresses/km^2)				.633
Very strong (≥2500)	194 (14.5)	176 (14.9)	370 (14.7)
Strong (1500–2500)	361 (26.9)	295 (24.9)	656 (26.0)
Moderate (1000–1500)	267 (19.9)	250 (21.1)	517 (20.5)
Little (500–1000)	278 (20.7)	264 (22.3)	542 (21.5)
Not (<500)	240 (17.9)	200 (16.9)	440 (17.4)
Self-reported morbidities (in past 12 months)
No health problems	215 (40.0)	177 (41.2)	392 (40.5)	.742
Heart disease	160 (11.9)	54 (4.5)	214 (8.5)	<.0001
Hypertension	305 (22.7)	227 (19.1)	532 (21.0)	.026
Asthma/COPD	106 (7.9)	131 (11.0)	237 (9.4)	.007
Cancer	96 (7.1)	90 (7.5)	186 (7.3)	.691
Diabetes mellitus	92 (6.9)	63 (5.3)	155 (6.1)	.103

Bold values represent significant differences between men and women.

Table 2. Mean baseline and change scores (standard deviations in parentheses) of EORTC QLQ-C30.

		Mean (SD)
		Men (n = 1346)								Women (n = 1193)
EORTC QLQ-C30	Total (n = 2539)	All men	18–29 N = 90	30–39 N = 181	40–49 N = 219	50–59 N = 295	60–69 N = 337	70–92 N = 224	p Value^a	All women	18–29 N = 97	30–39 N = 257	40–49 N = 209	50–59 N = 256	60–69 N = 244	70–92 N = 130	p Value^a
A. Functioning scales and summary score by sex and age
Physical
Baseline	90.8 (14.5)^d	92.9 (12.6)	96.6	97.8	94.8	93.4	92.3	86.0	.0001^e	88.5 (16.0)	92.9	93.2	91.9	86.5	86.1	78.5	.0001^e
Mean change year	−0.64 (6.4)^d	−1.0 (5.3)	−0.48	−0.20	−0.94	−0.88	−1.2	−1.9	.032	−0.17 (7.4)	0.43	0.94	−0.10	0.06	−0.85	−1.9	.09
Change in 5 years	−2.3 (10.7)	−2.8 (10.3)	−1.1	1.4	−0.99	−1.4	3.7	−6.9	.0001	−1.8 (11.2)	2.7	−0.87	−2.1	−1.2	−1.7	−4.8	.128
Role
Baseline	88.7 (20.8)^d	90.7 (19.2)	94.6	95.0	91.6	89.6	90.9	86.0	.0001^e	86.3 (22.3)	89.7	89.5	89.4	82.2	85.6	82.2	.0001^e
Mean change year	−0.51 (13.2)	−0.61 (11.1)	0.49	−0.03	−1.06	−0.53	−0.88	−0.78	.864	−0.39 (15.3)	−2.7	0.43	0.89	0.22	−1.08	−2.2	.245
Change in 5 years	−2.3 (21.2)	−2.1 (20.4)	5.6	−0.68	−2.5	−0.88	−3.1	−4.1	.470	−2.5 (22.1)	0.83	−3.3	−6.4	0.15	−1.6	−4.3	.432
Emotional
Baseline	88.8 (16.4)^d	90.7 (14.8)	93.1	89.0	87.3	91.0	91.9	92.5	.0001	86.6 (17.7)	84.0	85.5	86.2	86.5	88.0	88.7	.266
Mean change year	−0.54 (9.6)	−0.63 (8.7)	−1.5	−0.22	−1.3	−0.25	−0.58	−0.56	.728	−0.45 (10.6)	1.1	−0.97	−0.41	0.02	−0.60	−1.2	.624
Change in 5 years	−2.6 (16.6)	−2.5 (14.5)	−6.9	−3.06	−2.4	−4.1	−0.06	−3.3	.159	−2.6 (19.0)	−4.2	−6.0	−0.48	−3.6	−0.49	−3.1	.470
Cognitive
Baseline	92.3 (14.8)^b	93.0 (13.7)	95.2	95.3	93.6	94.7	92.4	88.1	.0001^e	91.6 (15.8)	90.1	92.9	93.4	89.9	91.2	91.1	.157
Mean change year	0.17 (8.9)	−0.29 (7.6)	1.5	−0.35	−1.1	−0.97	0.25	−0.08	.056	−0.04 (9.9)	2.4	0.38	−0.42	−0.48	0.11	−1.4	.124
Change in 5 years	−1.8 (14.9)	−2.3 (13.3)	3.7	−2.0	−1.4	−4.4	−1.1	−3.4	.098	−1.1 (16.8)	1.7	0.00	−2.9	−1.7	0.0	−1.9	.813
Social
Baseline	94.1 (15.1)^d	95.7 (12.8)	97.8	97.2	94.3	96.0	96.3	93.9	.023	92.4 (17.3)	93.3	93.8	93.6	89.5	92.5	92.4	.065
Mean change year	−0.38 (9.6)	−0.70 (8.4)	0.11	−0.15	−0.79	−0.78	−0.97	−0.86	.849	−0.01 (10.8)	−0.45	0.64	0.32	0.01	0.18	−1.9	.422
Change in 5 years	−1.9 (15.7)	−2.7 (14.0)	−4.6	−3.4	−0.62	−2.5	−2.1	−4.7	.449	−0.9 (17.7)	−1.7	−3.6	−2.6	0.15	1.6	−2.4	.418
General HRQOL
Global QOL scale
Baseline	77.9 (17.2)^b	78.9 (16.5)	79.8	80.6	76.5	77.2	81.2	78.2	.004^e	76.9 (17.9)	74.7	77.7	78.6	75.9	78.3	73.8	.083
Mean change year	−0.53 (9.7)	−0.69 (9.0)	−0.25	−0.60	−0.63	−0.81	−0.4	−1.3	.912	−0.34 (10.4)	2.3	−0.13	−0.14	−0.60	−1.00	−1.1	.209
Change in 5 years	−2.5 (15.5)	−2.6 (15.2)	6.5	−4.4	−0.62	−3.3	−3.0	−3.4	.105	−2.4 (15.9)	0.42	−4.8	−2.9	−2.4	−0.65	−3.2	.635
Summary score
Baseline	91.3 (10.6)^d	93.1 (9.0)	95.1	95.0	92.6	93.2	93.3	90.1	.0001	89.3 (11.9)	89.8	90.5	90.6	88.0	89.3	86.7	.012
Mean change year	−0.28 (5.1)^b	−0.49 (4.4)	0.02	−0.37	−0.53	−0.46	−0.56	−0.69	.868	−0.04 (5.8)	0.61	0.33	0.22	0.04	−0.46	−0.91	.260
Change in 5 years	−1.8 (8.7)	−1.9 (8.1)	0.19	−0.68	−0.86	−1.8	−1.8	−4.2	.035	−1.7 (9.4)	0.46	−2.3	−2.6	−1.3	−0.52	−3.4	.308
B. Symptom scales and items by sex and age
Fatigue
Baseline	17.4 (20.1)^d^,^e	14.3 (18.0)	12.3	13.6	16.9	14.7	11.6	16.7	.004^e	20.9 (21.7)	21.9	22.4	19.8	21.0	18.5	23.1	.280
Mean change year	0.43 (10.9)^c	1.1 (9.6)	0.83	1.3	0.67	1.1	1.5	0.62	.891	−0.31 (12.2)	−1.6	−0.94	−1.8	−0.39	0.66	2.3	.041
Change in 5 years	2.5 (17.6)	2.4 (16.5)	−1.2	4.8	0.00	2.4	1.8	4.6	.354	2.7 (19.0)	3.3	3.6	3.2	1.9	−0.44	7.9	.168
Nausea/vomiting
Baseline	2.8 (9.8)^d	1.5 (6.7)	1.3	2.5	2.1	1.2	1.3	1.1	.165	4.2 (12.2)	6.9	5.1	4.4	3.3	2.5	5.4	.017^e
Mean change year	0.07 (7.8)	0.27 (6.0)	0.44	−0.07	0.43	−0.01	0.52	0.27	.857	−0.14 (9.5)	−0.84	−0.71	0.39	0.01	0.25	−0.47	.771
Change in 5 years	0.61 (10.3)	0.50 (9.2)	0.93	0.68	0.00	0.50	−0.22	1.8	.666	0.75 (11.6)	−3.3	3.6	−0.48	0.30	1.5	0.27	.184
Pain
Baseline	14.9 (22.3)^d^,^e	11.5 (19.2)	6.3	6.9	12.3	12.9	11.8	14.5	.0001^e	18.8 (24.8)	16.8	14.9	15.5	20.2	22.4	23.5	.001^e
Mean change year	0.14 (13.0)	0.57 (10.6)	−0.98	0.47	0.08	0.89	0.01	2.2	.132	−0.36 (15.3)	0.10	−1.9	0.04	−0.04	−0.36	1.0	.593
Change in 5 years	2.6 (19.2)	2.3 (17.6)	−3.7	−0.34	2.9	0.88	3.3	4.4	.294	3.1 (21.1)	1.7	4.1	8.1	2.9	−0.65	3.2	.191
Single items
Dyspnea
Baseline	6.9 (16.7)^b	6.3 (16.2)	3.0	3.5	5.0	6.2	6.8	10.5	.0001^e	7.7 (17.3)	4.5	5.8	6.3	9.4	7.7	12.7	.001^e
Mean change year	0.11 (9.3)	0.30 (8.7)	0.00	−0.35	0.47	0.03	0.69	0.51	.824	−0.10 (10.1)	0.26	0.24	−0.53	−0.87	0.29	0.42	.728
Change in 5 years	2.1 (16.6)	2.4 (15.4)	0.00	−0.68	−0.41	1.8	3.8	5.2	.075	1.7 (17.9)	−3.3	−0.55	−0.48	3.0	1.6	5.9	.180
Insomnia
Baseline	14.1 (23.1)^d^,^e	10.5 (19.6)	10.0	7.4	12.2	10.5	10.2	11.7	.225	18.1 (25.9)	17.2	14.4	17.2	20.7	17.7	23.3	.02^e
Mean change year	0.21 (14.4)	0.32 (12.0)	−1.4	1.4	−0.04	0.57	0.39	0.06	.624	0.08 (16.6)	−0.37	−0.04	−0.72	0.57	1.8	−0.07	.174
Change in 5 years	2.7 (25.2)	2.4 (22.4)	0.00	−1.4	0.41	2.0	0.88	8.8	.045	3.1 (28.3)	1.7	3.8	6.7	2.4	0.65	3.8	.842
Appetite loss
Baseline	3.2 (12.4)^d	2.0 (10.1)	1.9	1.5	2.9	2.2	1.7	2.0	.763	4.4 (14.5)	4.1	5.7	3.2	4.8	2.9	6.2	.140
Mean change year	0.40 (9.3)	0.52 (8.3)	0.72	0.50	0.35	0.01	0.61	1.1	.784	0.26 (10.3)	−0.26	0.04	0.30	0.22	0.41	0.77	.983
Change in 5 years	0.94 (13.7)	1.1 (13.0)	0.00	0.00	0.82	1.3	0.66	2.6	.839	0.71 (14.6)	0.00	0.55	1.4	0.30	−0.33	2.7	.854
Constipation
Baseline	4.5 (13.6)^d	2.9 (10.7)	2.2	1.7	1.5	1.5	4.0	5.8	.0001	6.3 (16.0)	6.9	5.4	5.5	5.9	7.7	7.0	.604
Mean change year	0.27 (8.41)	0.26 (6.9)	−0.36	0.40	0.27	0.71	−0.11	0.36	.716	0.28 (9.9)	0.58	0.07	0.46	0.65	0.32	−0.60	.905
Change in 5 years	0.73 (16.3)	1.1 (14.9)	−1.9	−2.7	1.7	1.00	0.44	3.9	.156	0.31 (17.9)	−3.3	1.6	1.9	−2.7	0.98	2.7	.293
Diarrhea
Baseline	4.2 (13.8)	3.8 (12.8)	3.7	2.6	4.6	4.4	3.0	4.7	.359	4.6 (15.0)	5.5	4.4	4.5	5.1	3.7	4.9	.902
Mean change year	−0.25 (9.70	−0.24 (9.0)	0.52	0.05	−0.49	−0.77	0.14	−0.38	.771	−0.26 (10.5)	−1.7	0.42	−0.71	−0.79	0.38	−0.07	.470
Change in 5 years	0.80 (16.0)	0.75 (15.6)	0.00	0.68	−2.1	0.0	3.1	0.65	.276	0.86 (16.4)	−3.3	0.00	−0.48	2.1	1.3	1.6	.734
Financial difficulties
Baseline	3.1 (12.9)^b	2.5 (11.5)	1.9	1.5	4.0	3.3	2.1	1.8	.170	3.8 (14.4)	3.4	3.6	4.4	5.6	2.2	3.1	.171
Mean change year	0.11 (7.9)	0.23 (6.6)	−1.3	0.10	0.12	0.0	0.57	0.84	.174	−0.02 (9.2)	−0.87	−0.51	−0.10	0.97	−0.01	−0.40	.493
Change in 5 years	1.1 (13.4)	0.56 (10.5)	1.9	0.00	−0.41	0.50	0.66	1.3	.897	1.7 (16.3)	−1.7	0.55	7.14	0.91	1.3	0.00	.074

^aDifferences between age groups.

^bp < .05.

^cp < .01.

^dp < .001: difference between men and women.

^eClinically relevant difference between groups [4].

EORTC QLQ-C30 = European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire C30.

Bold values represent significant differences between men and women.

Figure 1. EORTC QLQ-C30 scores by sex and age over time. Figure is based on data from those that completed five assessments (n = 967).

Table 3. Mean baseline and change scores (standard deviations) of EORTC QLQ-C30.

	Mean (SD)
EORTC QLQ-C30	Total (with health problems) N = 967	No health problems^dN = 392 (40.5%)	Current disease or in the past 12 months^d						Ever diagnosed with cancer N = 76 (7.9%)
			Heart disease N = 83 (8.6%)	Hypertension N = 235 (24.3%)	Asthma/COPD N = 93 (9.6%)	Depression N = 48 (5.0%)	Diabetes N = 64 (6.6%)	Joint disease N = 52 (5.4%)
Mean age (SD)	55.7	50.7	66.4	62.3	54.7	54.3	60.8	62.8	64.9
Male (%)	55.5	54.8	78.3	58.7	47.3	35.4	64.1	42.7	53.9
A. Functioning scales and summary score by self-reported health problems
Physical
Baseline	90.8 (14.5)	97.3 (7.5)	77.0 (22.8)^c^,^d	84.8 (18.5)^c^,^d	83.9 (19.2)^c^,^d	81.3 (20.7)^c^,^d	80.7 (21.7)^b^,^d	69.8 (21.1)^c^,^d	86.1 (16.1)
Mean change year	−0.64 (6.4)	−0.53 (5.4)	−0.00 (9.4)^b	−1.1 (6.7)^b	−0.26 (8.4)^a	0.32 (10.0)	−1.1 (8.0)	0.33 (10.6)	−1.8 (6.0)^a
Change in 5 years	−2.33 (10.7)	−1.5 (8.7)	−7.6 (15.4)^b	−4.1 (11.2)^b	−2.8 (10.4)^a	−3.8 (10.9)	−5.2 (14.2)	−1.3 (11.1)	−1.2 (3.1)^a
Role
Baseline	88.7 (20.8)	95.8 (13.1)	77.1 (27.1)	84.5 (23.2)^b^,^d	81.5 (25.5)^c^,^d	75.2 (24.7)^c^,^d	79.8 (26.3)	64.0 (28.1)^c^,^d	83.2 (23.2)
Mean change year	−0.51 (13.2)	−1.1 (12.0)	−0.25 (12.8)	−1.0 (12.0)	−0.73 (13.1)	−1.1 (19.1)	0.26 (17.9)	0.51 (13.6)	−1.9 (13.2)
Change in 5 years	−2.3 (21.2)	−2.7 (16.3 )	−6.4 (27.1)	−2.5 (25.0)	−2.1 (21.0)	−5.1 (20.6)	−4.1 (25.2)	−5.4 (29.7)	0.07 (6.1)
Emotional
Baseline	88.8 (16.4)	92.0 (12.7)	86.1 (19.5)	87.2 (16.9)	85.3 (20.1)^a^,^d	63.5 (25.5)^c^,^d	87.9 (18.4)	82.6 (20.2)^a^,^d	87.5 (18.2)
Mean change year	−0.54 (9.6)	−1.4 (9.7)	0.25 (8.3)	−0.25 (8.2)	−0.26 (11.6)	2.7 (14.3)^a	−0.36 (7.7)	−0.88 (10.8)	−1.4 (8.3)
Change in 5 years	−2.6 (16.6)	−4.0 (17.8)	−3.9 (15.6)	−1.6 (13.0)	−1.07 (19.9)	1.9 (18.9)^a	−7.1 (14.9)	−5.2 (20.1)	−0.39 (3.8)
Cognitive
Baseline	92.3 (14.8)	96.2 (9.5)	84.7 (21.4)^c^,^d	90.5 (17.3)	87.6 (21.1)^b^,^d	72.7 (28.6)^c^,^d	85.5 (20.4)^a^,^d	83.7 (22.6)^b^,^d	89.9 (16.5)^a^,^d
Mean change year	0.17 (8.9)	−0.44 (8.2)	−0.22 (8.8)	−0.42 (7.0)	−0.38 (10.5)	1.7 (17.1)	0.89 (9.6)	−1.5 (13.1)	−1.2 (8.2)
Change in 5 years	−1.8 (14.9)	−2.2 (13.5)	−3.6 (18.3)	−1.0 (16.5)	−0.95 (19.4)	1.7 (20.9)	−1.6 (19.3)	−4.5 (18.3)	0.05 (3.9)
Social
Baseline	94.1 (15.1)	97.9 (8.0)^c	86.6 (23.3)	91.3 (19.0)^a^,^d	88.6 (22.2)^c^,^d	80.6 (24.9)^c^,^d	90.4 (19.6)	80.0 (27.4)^c^,^d	90.0 (18.9)^a^,^d
Mean change year	−0.38 (9.6)	−0.53 (8.2)	0.54 (14.2)	−0.20 (11.1)	−0.05 (11.6)	−0.78 (16.4)	−0.63 (14.8)	0.23 (11.3)	−1.1 (12.5)
Change in 5 years	−1.9 (15.7)	−2.3 (12.4)	−6.1 (20.1)	−1.6 (19.4)	0.95 (18.6)	−4.7 (22.6)	−5.7 (14.7)	1.4 (19.4)	0.29 (5.2)
General HRQOL
Global QOL scale
Baseline	77.9 (17.2)	82.9 (13.9)	69.1 (20.2)^a^,^d	73.4 (18.9)	68.3 (20.5)^c^,^d	59.9 (20.7)^c^,^d	72.6 (19.0)	63.6 (19.3)^c^,^d	72.5 (19.0)
Mean change year	−0.53 (9.7)	−1.2 (10.3)	0.43 (9.9)	−0.61 (9.8)	0.43 (11.3)	25.5 (11.1)	−1.0 (12.3)	−0.12 (11.2)	0.19 (7.7)
Change in 5 years	−2.5 (15.5)	−3.9 (15.2)	−4.1 (16.1)	−1.0 (15.1)	1.2 (15.0)	−1.1 (16.4)	1.0 (20.4)	−3.2 (19.6)	−0.14 (5.1)
Summary score
Baseline	91.3 (10.6) −0.28 (5.1)	95.4 (6.4)	83.8 (15.7)^c^,^d	88.1 (13.1)^b^,^d	84.5 (15.6)^c^,^d	78.1 (16.7)^c^,^d	86.7 (14.4)	77.7 (15.9)^c^,^d	88.3 (12.1)
Mean change year	−1.8 (8.7)	−0.54 (5.1)	−0.16 (6.1)	−0.17 (4.7)	−0.18 (5.9 )	0.31 (7.1)	−0.23 (6.3)	0.36 (5.7)	−0.89 (5.2)
Change in 5 years		−2.0 (7.5)	−5.6 (12.0)	−1.7 (9.1)	−0.48 (9.8)	−3.3 (9.2)	−3.1 (10.6)	−2.4 (10.0)	−0.25 (2.5)
B. Symptoms scales and items by self-reported health problems
Fatigue
Baseline	17.4 (20.1)	12.2 (15.3)	28.3 (26.2)^b^,^d	22.3 (22.9)^a^,^d	28.1 (25.1)^c^,^d	40.9 (25.9)^c^,^d	25.1 (24.5)	35.9 (25.8)^c^,^d	21.9 (22.3)
Mean change year	0.43 (10.9)	0.43 (10.9)	0.40 (12.5)	0.48 (9.2)	0.02 (12.6)	−0.65 (13.3)	−0.15 (13.6)	1.2 (11.4)	1.18 (9.2)
Change in 5 years	2.5 (17.6)	3.0 (16.8)	7.2 (22.4)	1.2 (20.3)	0.00 (18.2)	0.57 (20.4)	1.4 2(2.5)	3.9 (18.9)	−0.06 (4.7)
Nausea/vomiting
Baseline	2.8 (9.8)	2.0 (7.9)	3.85 (13.8)	3.7 (14.0)	5.56 (15.8)^b^,^d	8.16 (16.8)^b^,^d	4.3 (15.3)	8.2 (19.2)^a^,^d	3.33 (11.4)
Mean change year	0.07 (7.8)	−0.01 (7.3)	0.78 (8.1)	−0.14 (8.4)	0.45 (11.1)	0.33 (10.1)	−0.09 (7.9)	−1.5 (11.1)	0.32 (5.9)
Change in 5 years	0.61 (10.3)	0.43 (7.5)	2.4 (13.0)	0.57 (12.5)	0.24 (11.2)	4.3 (17.0)a	1.2 (10.1)	2.7 (10.0)	−0.29 (3.5)
Pain
Baseline	14.9 (22.3)	6.3 (14.8)	25.1 (28.4)	20.4 (25.4)^c^,^d	22.7 (28.4)^c^,^d	31.4 (29.2)^c^,^d	17.4 (24.9)	45.3 (28.2)^c^,^d	18.3 (23.0)
Mean change year	0.14 (13.0)	1.2 (13.6)	0.83 (12.6)	1.13 (11.9)	0.56 (13.4)	−2.9 (18.0)	1.6 (14.6)	−1.5 (11.3)b	1.27 (12.5)
Change in 5 years	2.6 (19.2)	4.6 (17.7)	3.3 (20.4)	0.46 (21.4)	3.3 (21.0)	3.8 (23.1)	0.81 (19.7)	−5.4 (18.4)b	0.27 (5.2)
Single items
Dyspnea
Baseline	6.3 (16.2)	2.0 (8.5)	21.8 (29.1)^c^,^d	11.1 (21.3)	29.7 (26.1)^c^,^d	13.2 (22.4)^b^,^d	15.7 (25.1)	23.0 (29.1)^c^,^d	9.5 (20.8)
Mean change year	0.30 (8.7)	0.40 (7.3)	−1.2 (14.6)	−0.80 (11.1)	−0.79 (12.9)	1.9 (16.1)^a	−2.3 (13.0)	−1.1 (13.0)	1.1 (8.9)
Change in 5 years	2.4 (15.4)	1.5 (12.2)	4.2 (23.2)	3.0 (18.6)	−2.9 (26.5)	8.5 (23.8)^a^,^d	0.81 (15.8)	2.7 (26.5)	0.95 (4.8)
Insomnia
Baseline	14.1 (23.1)	8.6 (17.7)	21.1 (28.7)	20.5 (27.4)^a^,^d	20.6 (26.8)^c^,^d	30.2 (31.0)^c^,^d	15.4 (26.7)	31.7 (32.3)^c^,^d	16.9 (27.0)
Mean change year	0.21 (14.4)	0.42 (13.7)	0.08 (15.4)	−1.2 (13.8)	0.41 (16.5)	0.59 (17.5)	1.8 (16.1)	−0.48 (16.5)	1.2 (13.5)
Change in 5 years	2.7 (25.2)	3.0 (22.1)	9.7 (25.4)	1.4 (29.4)	0.48 (30.8)	10.3 (34.3)	10.6 (33.7)	7.2 (33.5)	0.66 (6.3)
Appetite loss
Baseline	3.2 (12.4)	1.6 (8.0)	7.0 (20.2)	5.0 (17.0)	8.01 (20.2)^c^,^d	13.9 (26.8)^c^,^d	5.9 (17.5)	10.7 (24.1)	4.1 (17.4)^b
Mean change year	0.40 (9.3)	0.54 (8.7)	2.1 (11.5)b	−0.37 (9.7)	0.21 (12.0)	−1.4 (15.2)	0.86 (7.9)	0.42 (12.8)	0.47 (9.7)^a
Change in 5 years	0.94 (13.7)	0.54 (9.1)	8.5 (23.3)b	1.1 (14.4)	0.00 (17.9)	3.4 (22.7)	4.1 (15.3)	5.4 (21.5)	−0.77 (5.2)^a
Constipation
Baseline	4.5 (13.6)	2.9 (10.5)	8.7 (20.0)^c^,^d	4.7 (13.7)	6.45 (16.8)^a	11.1 (22.0)^c^,^d	4.3 (14.5)	9.3 (17.8)^b^,^d	8.5 (19.2)^a^,^e
Mean change year	0.27 (8.41)	0.19 (7.9)	−0.34 (10.2)	0.54 (7.8)	1.1 (9.9)	2.7 (13.7)	0.92 (7.8)	−0.69 (13.6)	−0.82 (11.3)
Change in 5 years	0.73 (16.3)	0.43 (12.3)	7.9 (24.8)	0.23 (19.0)	0.48 (23.7)	−1.7 (21.6)	2.4 (22.8)	0.90 (16.6)	−0.04 (5.5)
Diarrhea
Baseline	4.2 (13.8)	3.0 (11.3)	5.5 (16.2)	5.1 (15.6)	7.5 (20.6)^a^,^d	9.7 (20.5)	8.6 (20.6)^a^,^d	6.3 (15.5)	6.2 (18.5)
Mean change year	−0.25 (9.70	−0.21 (8.8)	−0.26 (12.7)	−0.47 (11.2)b	−0.26 (12.6)	−1.9 (12.5)	−0.44 (11.5)	−2.1 (12.6)	−0.67 (10.4)
Change in 5 years	0.80 (16.0)	−0.54 (15.5)	1.8 (11.9)	2.8 (14.4)b	−1.4 (14.4)	4.3 (17.4)	−4.1 (18.6)	−0.90 (14.7)	0.91 (5.6)
Financial difficul.
Baseline	3.1 (12.9)	0.95 (6.6)	8.0 (20.1)	5.8 (18.5)	6.8 (19.6)^b^,^d	16.3 (28.6)^c^,^d	5.9 (18.0)	14.7 (26.9)^b^,^d	6.4 (17.2)^a^,^e
Mean change year	0.11 (7.9)	0.24 (6.7)	−1.08 (10.6)^a	−0.68 (11.0)	0.21 (10.6)	−3.4 (15.0)	0.29 (10.7)	−1.8 (12.9)	0.09 (9.5)^a
Change in 5 years	1.1 (13.4)	0.43 (10.0)	0.00 (19.2)^a	1.6 (16.8)	2.9 (19.4)	−1.7 (21.6)	4.1 (18.6)	0.90 (14.7)	−0.66 (5.2)^a

^ap < .05.

^bp < .01.

^cp < .001 difference between those with and without a specific health condition.

^dClinically relevant difference between those with and without a specific health condition [4].

^eClinically relevant differences over time [5].

^fParticipants who did not reported one of the following health problems: asthma/chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), depression, diabetes, heart disease, hypertension, osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, stroke, stomach-, kidney- or liver-disease, and thyroid condition.

In case patients reported multiple morbid conditions, they were included in the results of all those conditions; EORTC QLQ-C30 = European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire C30.

Cocks K, King MT, Velikova G, et al. Evidence-based guidelines for determination of sample size and interpretation of the European Organisation for the Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire Core 30. JCO. 2011;29:89–96. Epub 2010/11/26.

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Osoba D, Rodrigues G, Myles J, et al. Interpreting the significance of changes in health-related quality-of-life scores. J Clin Oncol. 1998;16:139–144.

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