A Randomised Assessment Of The Use Of A Quality Of Life Questionnaire With Or Without Intervention In Patients Attending A Thoracic Cancer Clinic

The study examined the impact of using a quality of life (QoL) questionnaire during a clinic to identify QoL issues and to improve QoL. 138 patients were randomised (1:1:1) to either (1) an Intervention group that completed the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer-Core Quality of Life Questionnaire and Lung Cancer Module (EORTC QLQ-C30 and LC13) at baseline and received feedback during a clinic, (2) an Attention group that completed the questionnaire at baseline without feedback and (3) a Control group that did not complete the questionnaire. All patients completed the same questionnaire 6weeks later and a contact diary during the study period. There was a significant difference between the Intervention and Control groups for the mean number of QoL issues identified at baseline (4.69 vs. 2.81, P=0.006) and the mean number of actions taken (4.41 vs. 2.46, P=0.004). At 6weeks, there was no difference between the groups in global QoL (Intervention vs. Control group, P=0.596; Attention vs. Control, P=0.973). The results suggest that the completion of the EORTC QLQ-C30 LC13 with feedback improves communication and increases the number of QoL issues identified and actions taken. However, the intervention does not impact on QoL per se.