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A recent study underscored that postoperative patients with bladder cancer “require targeted interventions” to enhance their health-related quality of life (HRQOL).
A team of researchers from China conducted the study and published their findings in the European Journal of Oncology Nursing. They explained that “bladder cancer has become a health issue that cannot be ignored, with a broad spectrum of potential effects” on HRQOL.
The investigators also highlighted the goal of their research, which was “to analyze changes in patient-reported health-related quality of life and its influencing factors among bladder cancer patients at 3 months postoperatively, and to provide evidence for improving patients’ quality of life.”
A total of 218 patients were recruited from “a tertiary Grade A hospital in Shaanxi Province, China” for inclusion in the study. The investigators collected “clinical and sociodemographic data” while the patients were in the hospital and analyzed HRQOL using the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy – Bladder at baseline and at 3 months after surgery.
According to the study design and methodology, “paired t-tests were used to compare changes in HRQOL over time” and “multiple linear regression analyses were conducted in SPSS 27.0 to identify predictors of HRQOL.”
At the three-month point after surgery, “patients exhibited higher scores on the physical well-being and bladder cancer-specific subscales, and lower scores on social/family well-being, emotional well-being, functional well-being, and total HRQOL.” Significant changes across these factors observed by the researchers included social/family well-being (P<0.001), emotional well-being (P=0.043), and the bladder cancer-specific subscale (P<0.001).
Furthermore, positive coping, social comparison, and social support were associated with “baseline HRQOL,” whereas three-month HRQOL was associated with negative coping, social comparison, and social support.
Based on the findings, the investigators emphasized the need for targeted interventions to enhance the HRQOL of patients with bladder cancer after surgery.
“Clinical medical staff can carry out personalized interventions from the dimension of social support by guiding patients to form adaptive social comparison patterns, alleviating negative coping styles, and ultimately improving the overall HRQOL of patients,” they concluded.
