Evaluation of qualit y of life and affecting factors of prostate cancer patients in iraq

Background: Prostate cancer (PC) is one of the most common cancers in men. Despite the developments in health services, medical diagnosis, treatment, and prevention methods of cancer, there is an increase in cancer cases. As a chronic disease, cancer can negatively affect the quality of life of patients. Aim: The aim of this study is to evaluate the quality of life of prostate cancer patients living in Iraq and the factors affecting their quality of life. Methods: The study was conducted with 130 prostate cancer patients who met the sampling criteria of the Oncology Center at Al-Husseini Teaching Hospital in Karbala, Iraq, between March and August 2022. It is a descriptive and cross-sectional study. Data were collected by the patient sociodemographic characteristic form and the European Cancer Research and Treatment Institution quality of life questionnaire (EORTC QLQ-C30). The results: The mean age of the participants was 71.03 ± 9.06. 100% of them are married, 52.3% are retired, 29.1% are literate, 61.5% have insufficient economic status, 73.8% live in the city center, 69.2% live with their spouse and children, 75.4% had prostate cancer for 1-5 years, 99.2% had metastases, 53.1% had no chronic disease other than cancer, 53.1% did not receive surgical treatment, but 23.8% of those who received surgical treatment had laparoscopic prostate surgery, and 16.2% had open prostate surgery, 69.2% did not receive chemotherapy, 68.5% did not receive radiotherapy, 87.7% received hormone therapy, 62.3% did not smoke and 90.8% did not drink alcohol. Sub-dimension score averages of the quality of life scale; Role function mean score 5.42, emotional function mean score 4.33, cognitive function mean score 3.86, social function mean score 3.58, general health mean score 7.62, mean dyspnea score 1.68, insomnia average score 2.42, appetite loss mean score 1.82, nausea and vomiting score mean score of 2.73, mean score of constipation is 1.78, mean score of diarrhea is 1.46, mean score of fatigue is 7.42, mean score of pain is 4.65, mean score of symptom score is 30.10 and mean score of quality of life is 64.12. There is a significant relationship between the quality of life and age, educational status, economic status, place of residence of the patients, duration of prostate cancer, surgical treatment status, type of surgical treatment received, alcohol use status (p<0.05). There was no significant relationship between the quality of life of the participants and the type of work, living, having a chronic disease other than cancer, receiving chemotherapy, radiotherapy, hormone therapy, and smoking (p>0.05). Conclusions: Most prostate cancer patients in Iraq have a moderate quality of life. It was determined that age, education level, economic status of the patient, place of residence, duration of prostate cancer, surgical treatment status, type of surgical treatment, and alcohol consumption had an effective effect on the quality of life.