Relationship between quality of life indicators and cardiac status indicators in chemotherapy patients
Article Category: Original scientific article
Online veröffentlicht: 20. Okt. 2021
Seitenbereich: 199 - 209
Eingereicht: 09. März 2021
Akzeptiert: 31. März 2021
DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/sjph-2021-0028
Schlüsselwörter
© 2021 National Institute of Public Health, Slovenia, published by Sciendo
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.
Aim
With the aim of improving personalized treatment of patients on chemotherapy, the objective of the study was to assess the degree of association between selected Quality of life (QoL) indicators and both clinical and imaging cardiac status indicators when detecting deterioration in QoL of these patients.
Methods
In a cohort clinical study in Hamburg, from August 2017 through October 2020, 59 cancer patients, aged 18-80 years, were evaluated before chemotherapy, and at several follow-ups, using EQ-5D and SF-36 QoL questionnaires, fast strain-encoded (fast-SENC) cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR), conventional CMR, and echocardiography, and further received a clinical and biomarker examination. Data was analyzed using survival analyses. A decline of more than 5% in each observed QoL metric value was defined as the observed event. Patient were separated into groups according to the presentation of cardiotoxicity as per its clinical definition, the establishment of the indication for cardioprotective therapy initiation, and by a worsening in the value of each observed imaging metric by more than 5% in the previous follow-up compared to the corresponding pre-chemotherapy baseline value.
Results
Among clinical cardiac status indicators, the indication for cardioprotective therapy showed statistically good association with QoL scores (EQ-5D p=0.028; SF-36 physical component p=0.016; SF-36 mental component p=0.012). In terms of imaging metrics, the MyoHealth segmental myocardial strain score was the only one demonstrating consistently good QoL score association (EQ-5D p=0.005; SF-36 physical component p=0.056; SF-36 mental component p=0.002).
Conclusions
Established fast-SENC CMR scores are capable of highlighting patients with reduced QoL, who require more frequent/optimal management.