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Robert S Epstein,1 Upal K Basu Roy,2 Matti Aapro,3 Tehseen Salimi,4 Donald Moran,4 JoAnn Krenitsky,1 Megan L Leone-Perkins,5 Cynthia Girman,6 Courtney Schlusser,7 Jeffrey Crawford8 1Epstein Health, LLC., Woodcliff Lake, NJ, USA; 2LUNGevity Foundation, Bethesda, MD, USA; 3Clinique De Genolier, Genolier, Switzerland; 4G1 Therapeutics Ltd., Research Triangle Park, NC, USA; 5HealthiVibe, a Division of Corrona, LLC., Arlington, VA, USA; 6Chapel Hill Consulting, LLC., Chapel Hill, NC, USA; 7UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health, Chapel Hill, NC, USA; 8Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, USACorrespondence: Robert S EpsteinEpstein Health, LLC., Woodcliff Lake, NJ, 07677, USATel +1 201-285-5800Email repstein@epsteinhealth.comPurpose: To evaluate which side effects of chemotherapy are considered most burdensome by patients with cancer, identify which health care professionals pay most attention to symptoms associated with chemotherapy-induced myelosuppression (CIM) from the patient perspective, and capture the “patient voice” describing how CIM impacts their daily lives.Participants and Methods: Online survey of participants with breast, lung, or colorectal cancer who had received chemotherapy within the past 12 months and experienced ≥ 1 episode of CIM in the past year. Participants were asked to answer close-ended questions and provide qualitative responses to: “In your own words, please describe how side effects from myelosuppression have impacted your life.”Results: Among 301 survey participants, fatigue was the most frequently reported side effect of chemotherapy; 55% of participants rated fatigue as highly bothersome (9 or 10 on a 1– 10 scale of “bothersomeness”). Participants rated symptoms associated with CIM, including fatigue, weakened immune system (infections), bleeding and/or bruising, and shortness of breath, as being as bothersome as other side effects of chemotherapy, including alopecia, neuropathy, and nausea/vomiting. Overall, 24– 43% of participants thought that CIM and its symptoms had a negative impact on their daily lives, including their ability to complete tasks at home and work, and to socialize. Qualitative responses supported these findings; participants highlighted that CIM-related symptoms, particularly fatigue and fear of infections, affected their ability to be physically active, complete work, or continue meaningful relationships with friends and family.Conclusion: Participants described a real-world impact of CIM that often isolates them from family and friends, and means that they are unable to work or perform tasks of daily living. Using measures that help patients to recognize and communicate the signs and symptoms of CIM might increase the likelihood of maintaining daily lives as close to normal as possible, during and after chemotherapy treatment.Keywords: cancer, chemotherapy, myelosuppression, real world, quality of life, patient burden

The psychosocial effects of facial acne are well accepted but until recently few validated instruments existed which were suitable for use in clinical trials. The aim of this study was to assess measurement characteristics (reproducibility, correlation with acne severity, and sensitivity to detect change after acne therapy) of a new acne-specific quality of life instrument, the Acne-QoL. We found that the Acne-QoL is reliable, valid and able to distinguish differences across severity groups and improvement over 16 weeks of standard therapy. The use of the Acne-QoL should aid physicians in understanding the impact of facial acne on young adults, and may be useful in assessing therapeutic effects in acne clinical trials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In epidemiological studies, non-response may raise the question of generalizability to the target population. Most investigations have not been able to access data that could provide information about the potential impact of non-response bias.Methods: A 55% response rate was realized at baseline for a prospective cohort investigation of the natural history of benign prostatic hyperplasia in Olmsted County, Minnesota, during 1989-1991 (the Olmsted County Study of Urinary Symptoms and Health Status Among Men). This prompted a preliminary study of potential non-response bias among full participants, partial participants and complete non-responders. The medical diagnostic index maintained by the Rochester Epidemiology Project was used to ascertain the prevalence of specific conditions in the 9 years prior to study inception.Results: The age-adjusted period prevalence rate for benign prostatic hyperplasia (%) was 9.6 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 8.1-11.0) for full participants, 8.2 (95% CI: 5.8-10.6) for partial participants and 5.3 (95% CI: 3.6-6.9) for complete non-responders. Other urologic diagnoses followed the same pattern. However, age-adjusted prevalence rates for general medical examination history and major non-urologic morbidities were decidedly similar across response groups.Conclusions: These data suggest response may have been driven, in part, by concerns about urologic disease. However, the similarity in non-urologic diagnoses and general medical examinations provide some preliminary reassurance that the 55% response rate did not necessarily compromise generalizability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]