Quality of life and performance status in patients with pancreatic and periampullary tumors

Background To determine if pretreatment quality of life is associated with performance status in patients with pancreatic and periampullary tumors. Methods Eighty consecutive patients evaluated for surgical treatment of pancreatic or periampullary tumors completed the social functioning SF-36, a generic quality of life instrument. This instrument measures 8 domains of quality of life: physical functioning (PF), role-physical (RP), role-emotional, bodily pain, vitality, mental health, social functioning, and general health (GH). The best possible score is 100 and the worst possible score is 0. Each patient was then assigned a Karnofsky performance score (KPS), with the best possible score of 100 (normal, no complaints, no evidence of disease) and worst score of 0 (dead). Data recorded included age, gender, pathology, stage, resection, use of chemotherapy, and radiation therapy. Statistical analysis was done using single and multiple linear regression analysis, correlation coefficients (r) and coefficient of determination (r (2)). Results KPS was significantly associated with all domains of the SF-36 by single linear regression. By multiple linear regression, KPS was significantly associated with the PF domain (p < 0.001, r = 0.74), and nearly significantly associated with the RP (p = 0.07, r = 0.62) and GH (p = 0.06, r = 0.64) domains. This appears to be independent of tumor pathology and stage. Conclusion The results imply that pretreatment quality of life and performance status are related concepts in patients with pancreatic and periampullary tumors. This is primarily true for the physical component of the SF-36. However, despite statistical significance, coefficients of determination (r (2) values) suggest that there are additional factors determining both quality of life and performance status in patients with pancreatic and periampullary tumors.