The results are very similar for the two groups and no significant differences were found (physical functioning p = 0.597, physical role functioning p = 0.340, bodily pain p = 0.899, general health perceptions p = 0.734, vitality p = 0.759, social role functioning p = 0.877, emotional role functioning p = 0.441, mental health p = 0.552).
Of these, physical mobility (P = 0.05), energy (P = 0.01), role functioning (P = 0.04), physical functioning (P = 0.03), and breathlessness (P = 0.02) were significant at baseline.
Analysis of variance revealed significant differences in role functioning (P = 0.02) and tendencies toward physical problems (P = 0.051) and fatigue (P = 0.051) between the four groups.
Among the five functional sub-scores of the EORTC QLQ-C30, patients treated with weekly schedules presented a significantly worsening in role functioning (p = 0.02).
The HRQoL-scores for physical functioning (p = 0.003), role functioning (p = 0.05) and emotional functioning (p = 0.007) were significantly worse in patients with a hospital stay of ≥28 days (Fig. 5).
Living in a distance >155 km was associated with significantly worst HRQoL-scores for role functioning (p = 0.023), emotional functioning (p = 0.035), fatigue (p = 0.014) and dyspnoe (p = 0.046) (Fig. 4).
The comparison of the EORTC QLQ-C30 scales with the tumor size (T) and lymph node involvement (N) indicated that the patients with an early stage tumor scored significantly higher in physical functioning (T, p = 0.025; N, p = 0.024), role functioning (T, p = 0.010; N, p = 0.004) and social functioning (T, p = 0,035; N, p = 0.002), indicating better functioning.
Having experienced bullying was an independent predictor of: physical functioning (p = 0.04), role functioning physical (p = 0.002), role functioning emotional (p = 0.049) and social functioning (p = 0.011).
On the EORTC QLQ-C30, the cancer group without pain had better scores on all of the functional scales: physical functioning (PF, p < 0.001), role functioning (RF, p < 0.001), emotional functioning (EF, p = 0.002), cognitive functioning (CF, p = 0.027), social functioning (SF, p = 0.002) and global quality of life (QL, p < 0.001).
Compared with controls, the VLBW group had lower scores on the scale for mental health (p between 0.01 and 0.05) and the SGA group had lower scores on the scales for mental health, social functioning and emotional role (p ≤ 0.01), (Table 4).
