Health-related Quality of Life After Treatment for Malignant Bone Tumors: A Follow-up Study in China

Aim: We conducted the present study to assess health-related quality of life (HRQoL) among bone cancerpatients after surgical treatment in one large teaching hospitals in China, and assess the risk factors for improvingthe physical or mental HRQoL.
Methods: 344 eligible adult patients who were admitted to the hospital withmalignant bone tumors during the period of Jun. 2008 to Dec. 2011, and a reference group with 361 health caseswas recruited in the same hospital during the same period. All 344 patients were followed up for one year. TheHRQoL before treatment and after one year was evaluated with the Medical Outcome Short Form 36 (SF-36).
Results: All 8 domains of HRQoL had the lowest scores greatly improved over the first year after discharge.However, the patients still had significantly lower scores in every domain than the reference group one yearafter discharge. Age and type of surgery were associated with HRQoL in the mental domain.
Conclusion: TheHRQoL of patients with malignant bone tumors greatly improved one year after the treatment. This study alsohighlighted the utility of HRQoL assessment for prognostic evaluation of patients after surgical treatment forbone cancer.