Description
BACKGROUND: Quality of life (QoL) measurements are important in evaluating cancer treatment outcomes. Factors other than cancer and its treatment may have significant effects on QoL and affect assessment of treatments. Baseline data from longitudinal studies of women with endometrial or ovarian cancer or adnexal mass determined at surgery to be benign were analyzed to determine the degree to which QoL is affected by baseline differences in demographic variables and health. METHODS: This study examined the effect of independent variables on domains of the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy (FACT-G) pre-operatively in gynecologic oncology patients undergoing surgery for pelvic mass suspected to be malignant or endometrial cancer. Patients also completed the Short Form Medical Outcomes Survey (SF-36) questionnaire (a generic health questionnaire that measures physical and mental health). Independent variables were surgical diagnosis (ovarian or endometrial cancer, benign mass), age, body mass index (BMI), educational level, marital status, smoking status, physical (PCS) and mental (MCS) summary scores of the SF-36. Multiple regression analysis was used to determine the influence of these variables on FACT-G domain scores (physical, functional, social and emotional well-being). RESULTS: Data were collected on 157 women at their pre-operative visit (33 ovarian cancer, 45 endometrial cancer, 79 determined at surgery to be benign). Mean scores on the FACT-G subscales and