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Background: The number of gastric cancer survivors has been increasing, and such survivors experience various changes in their lives post-recovery. Adapting to these changes requires appropriate interventions that can improve their quality of life (QoL). This study was conducted to investigate the factors affecting the QoL of gastric cancer survivors and provide basic data for effective intervention. Methods: Data were collected between September 8 and September 29, 2017, from the Gastric Cancer Center at a tertiary hospital. Questionnaire surveys were conducted using the EORTC QLQ-C30/STO22, Self-Efficacy-Scale, Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support, and Quality of Life-Cancer Survivors Questionnaire on gastric cancer survivors who were followed up for 3 years after gastrectomy. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, t test, ANOVA, Pearson's correlation coefficient, and multiple regression analysis. Results: A total of 136 gastric cancer survivors completed the questionnaire survey. There were significant positive correlations of QoL with self-efficacy, functional status, and social support (r =.35, p <.001; r =.53, p <.001; r =.26, p <.001, respectively). There were significant negative correlations of QoL with general symptoms (r = −.39, p <.001) and gastric cancer-specific symptoms (r = −.51, p <.001). The regression model explained 48.3% of the QoL, and the affecting factors were gastric cancer-specific symptoms (β = −.397, p <.001), religious belief (β =.299, p <.001), functional status (β =.251, p =.003), and self-efficacy (β =.191, p =.004). Conclusion: This study confirmed that gastric cancer-specific symptoms, spiritual well-being, self-efficacy, and functional status affect the QoL of gastric cancer survivors. Hence, these factors should be considered in the interventions to improve the QoL of gastric cancer survivors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Thyroid cancer (TC) incidence is increasing. With its good prognosis and the young population concerned, the number of survivors is rising. However, their quality of life appears worse than expected. This study aims to assess the social and sexual health (SSH) of TC survivors and associated factors after a 2- and 5-year follow-up. Methods: This study belongs to the National VICAN Survey implemented in France among TC patients diagnosed between January and June 2010. Data were collected via phone interviews, medical surveys, and from medico-administrative register in 2012 and 2015. We used multivariable logistic regressions to qualify TC impact on SSH. Results: Across 146 patients, 121 were women, 50.7% were less than 42 years old, 77.5% were diagnosed at an early-stage, and 97.6% underwent thyroidectomy. At 2 years, 60.0% experienced social life discomfort because of cancer, 40.6% reported a decreased sexual desire, 37.4% fewer intercourse, 31.9% felt dissatisfied with this frequency, 30% reported difficulties achieving orgasm, and 15.2% considered that cancer had a negative influence for procreation. No significant difference was observed at 5 years. SSH was never discussed with medical professionals for 96.7% patients, as it was not proposed as a topic of concern (79.1%). In multivariable analysis, depression, embarrassment regarding their physical appearance since treatment, and reduced gestures of affection remained associated with decreased sexual desire. Conclusion: This study highlights that TC is associated with an alteration of SSH which remains even at 5 years post-diagnosis. SSH should be discussed during diagnosis and considered during follow-up. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Decreased quality of life (QoL) in thyroid cancer patients after thyroidectomy is a common, but there is a lack of predictive methods for decreased QoL. This study aimed to construct a machine learning–based random forest for predicting decreased QoL in thyroid cancer patients 3 months after thyroidectomy. Materials and methods: Two hundred and eighty-six thyroid cancer patients after thyroidectomy were enrolled in this prospective cross-sectional study from November 2018 to June 2019, and were randomly assigned to training and validation cohorts at a ratio of 7:3. The European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer quality of life questionnaire version 3 (EORTC QLQ-C30) questionnaire was used to assess the QoL 3 months after thyroidectomy, and decreased QoL was defined as EORTC QLQ-C30 < 60 points. The random forest model was constructed for predicting decreased QoL in thyroid cancer patients after thyroidectomy. Results: The mean QoL 3 months after thyroidectomy was 65.93 ± 9.00 with 21.33% (61/286) decreased QoL. The main manifestation is fatigue in symptom scales and social functioning dysfunction in functional scales. The top seven most important indices affecting QoL were clinical stage, marital status, histological type, age, nerve injury symptom, economic income and surgery type. For random forest prediction model, the areas under the curve in the training and validation courts were 0.834 and 0.897, respectively. Conclusion: The present study demonstrated that random forest model for predicting decreased QoL in thyroid cancer patients 3 months after thyroidectomy displayed relatively high accuracy. These findings should be applied clinically to optimise health care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to access changes in health-related quality of life (HRQoL) caused by radioiodine therapy (RAI) in thyroid cancer patients.Methods: Prospective cohort study at Brazilian National Cancer Institute with patients enrolled between March 2015 and June 2017. RAI was performed by administration of 1.11 to 9.25 GBq of Na131I. EORTC QLQ-C30 v3 and EORTC QLQ-H&N35 questionnaires were applied to determine HRQoL at baseline, 1 week and 3 months after RAI. HRQoL during follow-up was evaluated by calculation of score absolute changes in each domain. Descriptive analysis was performed by measures of central tendency and dispersion. Changes in HRQoL were evaluated by paired t-test. The association between social demographic and clinical data and HRQoL was assessed by univariate linear regression for significantly changed domains, and p < 0.05 was considered significant.Results: An improvement on global HRQoL and social Function post-therapy (p = 0.002 and p < 0.001) and on role (p = 0.038), emotional (p < 0.001), and cognitive function (p = 0.016) during RAI were observed. Nausea and vomiting (p < 0,001), pain (p < 0.001), sensitivity problems (p < 0.001), problems with social contact (p < 0.001), dry mouth (p = 0.007), and sticky saliva (p = 0.001) increased during RAI. Females were more sensible to changes in nausea and vomiting, and patients < 55 years experienced higher changes in sense during RAI.Conclusions: Although RAI might affect HRQoL negatively, patients experienced an improvement on global HRQoL and symptoms reduction post-therapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Thyroid cancer, especially differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC), is a highly prevalent chronic disease that is known to cause considerable distress, related both to the high recurrence and treatment of the disease. The Pictorial Representation of Illness and Self Measure-Revised 2 (PRISM-R2) has been developed as a visual measure to assess suffering. The aim of this study was to evaluate the ability of the instrument to identify patients with DTC with different levels of suffering who may need additional support care.Methods: Participants were 338 adult inpatients with DTC who were accepting the radioiodine for remnant ablation in the nuclear medicine department. The assessment tools included the following: (1) the PRISM-R2, yielding Self-Illness Separation (SIS) and Illness Perception Measure (IPM); (2) distress thermometer (DT), a measure of thyroid cancer-related distress; (3) posttraumatic growth inventory (PTGI); (4) 12-item Short-Form health survey (SF-12); and (5) the Supportive Care Needs Survey Short Form (SCNS-SF34). In addition, the content validity of PRISM-R2 was tested using the patients' comments.Results: SIS and IPM showed medium intercorrelation (r = -.482; p < 0.01), and both of them showed strongly significant associations with DT. SIS also showed significant correlations with one factor of PTGI (personal strength), four factors of SF-12 (general health, role-emotional, mental health, and vitality), and one factor of SCNS-SF34 (psychological needs). IPM showed significant correlations with five factors of SF-12 and all the factors of SCNS-SF34. No correlation was found between IPM and PTGI.Conclusions: PRISM-R2 is a well-accepted and understandable tool to assess the psychological burden of patients with thyroid cancer in Chinese settings. It may be useful to guide or evaluate the interventions for the patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]