Assessment of psychological distress and quality of life in lung cancer patients receiving chemotherapy: A single center experience

Background: Lung cancer is one of the most common malignant diseases with high mortality. Patients diagnosed with lung cancer are most likely to exhibited psychiatric symptomatology while they experience poor quality of life. Purpose: To examine the relationship between psychological distress and quality of life (QoL) in lung cancer patients receiving chemotherapy. Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted in which 110 lung cancer patients were recruited to participate. Data was collected with an anonymous self-administrated question-naire consisted by three parts: a sheet concerning demographic information, the scales Missoula Vitas Quality of Life Index-15 and General Health Questionnaires (GHQ)-28. Results: Women accounted for 51.8% of the sample, 27.3% were [greater than or equal to]56 years old and 24.5% were in the age between 35-44. Moreover, 38.2% were high school graduates while 46.4% were married. Age, educational level, and marital status were found to be related to patients' perceived QoL. QoL was found to be related to psychological variables for GHQ-28. Conclusions: Quality of life can be considered to be a result of disease and treatment, as perceived by the patient and is affected by factors such as injury, anxiety, perceptions and social opportunities. This has a direct effect on patients' functioning and ability to self-care. Keywords: Lung cancer, psychological distress, quality of life