Quality of life in patients with bladder cancer undergoing ileal conduit: A comparison of women versus men

Background/Aim: Studies comparing health-related quality of life (HR-QoL) between patients who underwent radical cystectomy (RC) and those who underwent a different form of urinary diversion has not reached yet univocal and reliable conclusions. The aim of our study was to evaluate bladder-specific long-term HR-QoL after radical cystectomy and ileal conduit. Patients and Methods: A multicenter study was carried out on 145 consecutive patients (112 males and 33 females) undergoing RC and ileal conduit (IC). HR-QoL assessment was conducted using Italian versions of European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer QLQ-C30 and EORTC BLM-30 questionnaires. Results: Our data showed that women who underwent IC presented greater problems than men in cognitive functioning (mean score\uc2\ub1SD: 77.3\uc2\ub127.9 vs. 87.8\uc2\ub118.6) as well in future perspective (score: 42.4\uc2\ub134.4 vs. 21.9\uc2\ub124.6). Nevertheless, men undergoing IC had more problems in sexual functioning than women (score: 23.3\uc2\ub124.5 vs. 7.0\uc2\ub120.3) (all p