Health-related quality of life and cognitive functioning in adult patients with supratentorial WHO grade II glioma: status prior to therapy

The present prospective study intends to evaluate health-related quality of life (HRQL) and cognitive functioning in adult patients with supratentorial World Health Organization (WHO) grade II glioma (LGG) prior to observation/therapy and to determine possible influences of tumor-related factors on these measures. Adult patients with biopsy-proven supratentorial LGG were considered eligible (study period 18 months). Besides detailed documentation of patient clinical status we evaluated HRQL using the Short Form-36 (SF-36) Health Survey and applied the Beck Depression Inventory. Furthermore, attention and verbal memory functions were tested. Data from matched healthy control populations served as reference, and T-values were compared using Mann-Whitney U tests. For correlation of scores the Pearson test was utilized. Thirty-three patients with median Karnofsky Performance Status (KPS) of 80 were evaluated. Selective and divided attention showed significant impairment (P < 0.005), while verbal memory functions were unaffected. HRQL evaluated by SF-36 Health Survey was significantly reduced predominantly in the psychological domains (P < 0.025 to P < 0.0005). Nine patients displayed mild to moderate depression. Duration of symptoms > 20 weeks and presence of seizures negatively affected aspects of HRQL, while cognitive functions were not influenced. KPS < 80 correlated significant only with reduced physical functioning (P < 0.002) and role functioning (P < 0.01) on the SF-36 Health Survey. While displaying good clinical status, patients with LGG showed significant impairment in aspects of attention and affections of HRQL already at time of diagnosis. These results suggest that these impairments originate from the tumor and/or potentially from confrontation with the diagnosis itself.