| Abstract [eng] |
Introduction: Cervical cancer is the fourth most common cancer in women globally. As survival rates gradually increase, it becomes necessary to assess the quality of life after treatment. It is known that different treatment modalities have different effect on quality of life. Therefore, we aimed to evaluate the quality of life of cervical cancer survivors treated with concurrent chemoradiotherapy. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional monocentric study, conducted in Vilnius university hospital Santaros klinikos between November 2018 and November 2022, included 20 women, who were interviewed once using European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) designed questionnaire QLQ-CX24. The demographic and clinical data and the results of the questionnaire are presented in mean, standard deviation, percentages and median with range. The quality of life scores were compared between different age and stage groups with Mann-Whitney U test. Results: Twenty participants, aged from 27 to 55 years, with a mean age of 43.95 years (SD=7.61) participated in the study. All the participants were cervical cancer survivors with a FIGO stage from IB to IIIB and all of them were treated with concurrent chemoradiotherapy. The symptom experience was relatively low and revealed a good result (21.82, SD=10.24). Mean scores on body image, sexual/vaginal functioning, menopausal symptoms and sexual worry scales indicated moderate functioning and moderate-level of some of the cervical cancer-specific symptoms after treatment. Sexual activity and sexual enjoyment of the cervical cancer survivors were low (11.67 (SD=16.31), 14.29 (SD=17.82) respectively). Conclusions: Cervical cancer survivors report a relatively good quality of life regarding symptom experience, however, women following treatment are not sexually active and rarely feel sexual enjoyment. In addition, this treatment modality negatively affects a woman’s body image and self-perception as a woman. |
