Health-related quality of life among adult patients with cancer in Uganda – a cross-sectional study

Figures & data

Table 1. Sociodemographic and clinical characteristics of patients in specialised cancer care in Uganda (N = 385).

Age in years, mean (SD)	47.5 (15.7)
Participants’ characteristics	n	%
Sex
Male	131	34.0
Female	254	66.0
Marital status
Married/cohabiting	217	56.4
Divorced/widowed	106	27.5
Never married	62	16.1
Education level
None	54	14.0
Primary	143	37.1
Secondary	123	31.9
Tertiary	65	16.9
Religion
Christian	332	86.2
Muslim	48	12.5
Others	5	1.3
Occupation
Employed	86	22.3
Business owner	237	61.6
Student	14	3.6
Not working	48	12.5
Clinical setting
Inpatient	257	66.8
Outpatient	128	33.2
Clinical stage
Early (I–II)	106	27.5
Late (III–IV)	279	72.5
Treatment
Chemotherapy only	179	46.5
Chemotherapy and radiotherapy	56	14.5
Radiotherapy only	38	9.9
No therapy	112	29.1
Palliation	21	5.5
Surgery	38	9.9
Cancer diagnosis
Cervical cancer	92	23.9
Breast cancer	68	17.7
Kaposi’s sarcoma	43	11.2
Leukaemia	26	6.8
Prostate cancer	22	5.7
Oesophageal cancer	20	5.2
Lymphoma	13	3.4
Other cancers^a	101	26.2

^aOther cancers include lung cancer (n = 8), ovarian cancer (n = 8), colon cancer (n = 5), malignant melanoma (n = 5), oral cancer (n = 4), stomach cancer (n = 4), head and neck cancers (n = 4) and other cancers (n = 63).

Table 2. Mean values of the EORTC QLQ-C30 scales as reported by patients in specialised cancer care in Uganda.

QLQ-C30 scales	All (N = 385) Mean (SD)	Men (n = 131) Mean (SD)	Women (n = 254) Mean (SD)	t-values	p-values*
Global Health Status	49.7 (25.2)	50.0 (24.2)	49.6 (25.8)	0.145	0.885
Physical Function	53.4 (31.0)	53.6 (29.6)	53.3 (31.8)	0.099	0.921
Role Function	36.8 (35.3)	36.6 (37.7)	36.8 (34.1)	−0.044	0.964
Emotional Function	57.5 (32.3)	61.9 (32.5)	55.2 (32.1)	1.937	0.053
Social Function	31.6 (33.5)	32.7 (35.0)	31.1 (32.8)	0.442	0.659
Nausea/Vomiting	24.4 (33.7)	22.6 (34.2)	25.3 (33.5)	−0.722	0.471
Fatigue	53.0 (32.3)	51.7 (33.4)	53.6 (31.7)	−0.532	0.595
Pain	59.1 (34.5)	57.1 (34.8)	60.2 (34.3)	−0.821	0.412
Dyspnoea	19.8 (33.3)	20.9 (33.2)	19.3 (33.4)	0.439	0.661
Insomnia	39.7 (38.2)	39.4 (38.1)	39.8 (38.4)	−0.079	0.937
Appetite Loss	41.8 (39.2)	38.2 (39.0)	43.7 (39.2)	−1.313	0.190
Diarrhoea	12.8 (27.3)	11.5 (26.1)	13.5 (27.9)	−0.704	0.482
Constipation	23.5 (36.7)	23.7 (38.9)	23.4 (35.6)	0.077	0.939
Financial Difficulties	89.7 (24.8)	90.8 (24.5)	89.1 (25.0)	0.649	0.517

*Student’s t-test was used to assess the differences between men and women.

Table 3. EORTC QLQ-C30 mean scale scores for patients reporting poor HRQoL (clinical cases) and those with acceptable/high ratings (non-cases) in specialised cancer care in Uganda.

QLQ-C30 scales	Poor health-related quality of life (clinical cases)			Non-cases
	Mean (SD)	n	%	Mean (SD)	n	%
Physical Function	42.4 (24.9)	305	79.2	95.4 (5.7)	80	20.8
Role Function	18.0 (18.5)	280	72.7	86.7 (15.2)	105	27.3
Social Function	16.0 (19.6)	293	76.1	81.3 (15.0)	92	23.9
Emotional Function	36.2 (22.6)	233	60.5	90.1 (9.9)	152	39.5
Nausea/Vomiting	54.6 (29.8)	172	44.7	0 (0)	213	55.3
Fatigue	73.7 (19.8)	242	62.9	17.9 (13.4)	143	62.9
Pain	72.2 (24.6	309	80.3	6.1 (8.1)	76	19.7
Dyspnoea	64.1 (27.2)	119	30.9	0 (0)	266	69.1
Insomnia	82.9 (16.7)	150	39.0	12.1 (16.1)	235	61.0
Appetite Loss	84.7 (16.7)	157	40.8	12.3 (16.1)	228	59.2
Diarrhoea	59.4 (26.1)	83	21.6	0 (0)	302	78.4
Constipation	85.3 (16.6)	91	23.6	4.3 (11.2)	294	76.4
Financial Difficulties	93.8 (15.9)	368	95.6	0 (0)	17	4.4

Table 4. Factors associated with poor health-related quality of life in adult patients with cancer in Uganda.

		Physical Function	Role Function	Emotional Function	Social Function	Fatigue	Pain
	n	AOR (95% CI)	AOR (95% CI)	AOR (95% CI)	AOR (95% CI)	AOR (95% CI)	AOR (95% CI)
Age (years)	385	1.02 (1.01–1.04)**	1.02 (1.01–1.04)*				1.04 (1.01–1.06)**
Education level
None (ref)	54
Primary	143	1.14 (0.47–2.78)	0.87 (0.33–2.31)	0.44 (0.18–1.07)		0.95 (0.48–1.89)	0.78 (0.30–2.04)
Secondary	123	0.78 (0.32–1.88)	0.66 (0.24–1.83)	0.23 (0.09–0.55)**		0.49 (0.24–0.99)*	0.62 (0.22–1.71)
Tertiary	65	0.44 (0.17–1.13)	0.35 (0.12–1.02)	0.27 (0.10–0.72)**		0.51 (0.23–1.15)	0.44 (0.15–1.30)
Occupation
Employed (ref.)	86
Business	237				1.84 (0.95–3.57)
Student	14				3.20 (0.39–26.28)
Not working	48				3.70 (1.02–13.36)*
Clinical setting
Outpatient (ref)	128
Inpatient	257		2.99 (1.70–5.26)**
Clinical stage
Early (I-II) (ref)	106
Late (III-IV)	279					1.44 (0.89–2.33)
Palliation
No (ref)	364
Yes	21			6.32 (0.97–41.17)		2.85 (0.77–10.56)
Active cancer treatment
No (ref)	273
Yes	112			0.64 (0.37–1.12)			0.71 (0.36–1.39)
Cancer diagnosis
Breast (ref.)	68
Cervix	92			3.20 (1.50–6.81)**		1.71 (0.87–3.39)	2.02 (0.85–4.77)
Kaposi’s sarcoma	43			1.64 (0.70–3.87)		0.88 (0.40–1.94)	1.52 (0.62–3.74)
Leukaemia	26			2.70 (0.95–7.65)		3.82 (1.22–11.97)*	2.54 (0.51–12.76)
Prostate	22			1.02 (0.38–2.75)		1.23 (0.45–3.39)	0.30 (0.09–0.96)*
Oesophageal	20			1.83 (0.66–5.12)		1.49 (0.52–4.25)	1.14 (0.38–3.43)
Lymphomas	13			1.20 (0.36–3.96		0.90 (0.25–3.19	1.96 (0.39–9.93)
Other cancers	101			2.28 (1.14–4.57)**		2.27 (1.16–4.44)*	3.86 (1.62–9.20)**

Each model included only the factors that were associated with the specific subscale in the bivariate analysis *p ≤ 0.05, **p < 0.01.