Quality of life of cancer patients as early as 40 years of this century had been made, then acts of state Kamofsky Firstly Kamofsky scale the quality of life of cancer patients were assessed. Although the scale of today, with a lot of one-sided, and does not provide any guidance to language, but it is, after all, quality of life of cancer patients for future research opened a precedent.
Since then, the quality of life of cancer patients more and more attention, measurement tools have continued to increase and improve. Data show that in many measurement tools, the Cancer Rehabilitation Evaluation (CancerRehabilitation Evaluation System, CARES), functional living index cancer (Functional Living Index-Cancer, FLIC), the quality of life index (Quality of Life Index, QLI), Europe | cancer research and treatment organizations (European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer, EORTC), MOS 36 brief health survey (MOS36-Itern ShortForm Health Survey, SF36) and linear self-rating scale with the original language (Linear AnalogueSelf – Assessment Scale, LASAS) and others are quite satisfied. Also has information that the Rotterdam symptom checklist (Rotterdam symptom checklist) is to assess key aspects of quality of life the best way, and Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale to assess the patient's depression and anxiety is particularly useful.
Quality of life of cancer patients, the concept of quality of life:
Quality of life is a very abstract concept, different people may have different interpretations of this, coupled with the quality of life, including the content itself more, it is difficult to be summarized in one sentence. Description of the current quality of life, able to reach a consensus among researchers mainly in the following three aspects:
(1) quality of life is determined by many factors. For cancer patients, it relates to the patient's symptoms, mood, adaptation to the medical environment, and medical staff relations, live, work and social skills, and so on. But sum up, quality of life primarily by the patient's physical, psychological and social health of the three aspects of the decision. This requires the development of measurement tools should be fully taken into account, as far as possible into all aspects of care, and strive to be more realistic and reliable information.
(2) quality of life is the patient's subjective experience. The quality of quality of life of patients rely mainly on their own judgments. For the same case, different people may have different understanding and response. Is also a cancer patient, that cancer can be cured are generally not produce a significant psychological pressure. And that means the death of cancer patients often have serious negative emotions. This requires the measurement of quality of life, we must let the patient according to their own experience, personally completed questionnaires or scales, it is best not observed according to the doctor or others to decide. Research has shown that the same group of patients, according to the patient's own experience and according to the doctor's quality of life observed significant differences between index.
Quality of life of cancer patients, (3) quality of life of patients with life time is changed. For example, the response to chemotherapy for cancer patients may change over time. The beginning of the more prominent side effects of treatment, the patient can not tolerate the side effects due to torture and the treatment of loss of confidence; after a period of treatment, treatment gradually appearing, the patient may present mood, tolerance of side effects may also be enhanced. Therefore, the quality of life questionnaire asked patients to answer each question is defined as a period of time (usually one week) the integrated experience. In addition, a proper evaluation of the quality of life need more than two points in time.