Health-related Quality of Life, Fatigue, and Posttraumatic Growth of Cancer Patients Undergoing Radiation Therapy: A Longitudinal Study

The purpose of this study was to determine health-related quality of life (HRQoL), fatigue, and posttraumatic growth (PTG) among patients with breast or prostate cancer during and following radiation therapy (RT). A total of 91 patients completed measures at three time points as follows: one or two weeks before the start of RT, in the fifth/sixth week of treatment, and four to six weeks post-treatment. Consistent with the previous literature, the results of this study revealed that RT was associated with declines in global HRQoL, Physical Well-being, Social/Family Well-being, and Functional Well-being, as well as an increase in fatigue. By four to six weeks post-treatment, these factors improved significantly and returned to baseline levels with the exception of Social/Family Well-being. The PTG total score and almost all of its subscale scores did not change significantly during the period of the study. However, the subscale of Spiritual Change for PTG significantly increased during the RT, and sustained this improvement at four to six weeks post-treatment. A significant negative correlation was found between Physical Well-being and PTG total score, whereas a significant positive correlation was revealed between Social/Family Well-being and PTG total score. The results from this analysis suggest that a significant decrease in HRQoL is evident in the fifth/sixth week of RT treatment. However, recovery of HRQoL occurs as quickly as a few weeks after the end of treatment. Moreover, patients with high ratings of Social/Family Well-being experience more positive psychological changes (PTG) resulting from the cancer experience.