Assessment of quality of life indicators among selected patients in a community cancer center

Quality of life and outcome assessments are particularly critical for nurses in assessing clinical care for diseases such as cancer because of potential mortality and the exacting modalities of treatment. The 278 study participants were patients at the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center Orlando. The respondents were assessed with the Health Status Questionnaire (HSQ; D. M. Radosevich, H. Wetzler, & S. M. Wilson, 1995). Prostate cancer patients scored higher (had a higher quality of life) on average (6.08%) than breast cancer patients on all subscales except Physical Functioning. The diagnostic center patients scored higher (9.68%) than breast cancer patients and prostate cancer patients (3.47%). Breast cancer respondents scored 16.61% lower than the normative values for individuals less than 65 years of age, whereas prostate cancer respondents scored 10.91% higher than the normative values for those older than 65. The data analysis confirmed that breast cancer and prostate cancer patients have statistically different scores on the HSQ, implying different quality of life concerns for each group.