Cervical cancer remains a major problem in Madagascar. Its occurrence affects all aspects of an individual’s life. Our study therefore assessed the impact of cervical cancer and its treatment on quality of life. A total of 24 cases of cervical cancer treated with concomitant radiochemotherapy were followed up. Through a prospective descriptive and analytical study conducted at the Radiotherapy Department of the CHUJRA between January and July 2022, quality of life was assessed before the start of treatment and after three cycles of chemoradiotherapy using the QLQ-C30 and QLQ-CX24 questionnaires. Our study highlights the influence of age and co-morbidities on the quality of life of individual patient characteristics. Cervical cancer, through its various clinical stages, increasingly impairs overall quality of life. During treatment, after 3 cycles of chemoradiotherapy, symptom scores for nausea/vomiting, diarrhoea, pain and loss of appetite increased significantly. Cervical cancer, its treatment and individual patient characteristics all have an impact on patients’ quality of life. Given our results, it would be important to develop strategies to mitigate the impact of cervical cancer and its treatment on quality of life.
KeywordsQuality of LifeChemoradiotherapyCervical CancerMadagascar
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