Relationship between quality of life of lung cancer patients and smoking

Aim: To describe the relationship between quality of life (QOL) and cigarette smoking among lung cancer patients as measured by the functional and lung cancer symptom scale. Design: Data for this exploratory study were collected using a cross-sectional model. Methods: The research sample consisted of 198 patients from six hospitals in Slovakia. Two questionnaires were used in this study, the EORTC QLQ-C30 (version 3) and its module EORTC QLQ-LC13. Results: The average age of respondents was 60.28 (SD ± 13.83). 40% of patients were current smokers, 39% were former smokers, and 21% were non-smokers. Global health status and physical functioning were better among non-smokers in comparison with former smokers and current smokers. Significant differences were found in symptoms – pain, dyspnoea, coughing, haemoptysis, dysphagia, pain in chest, and pain in other parts, all of which were worse among current smokers and former smokers in comparison with non-smokers. Conclusion: Smoking seems to be a risk factor that has an impact on the quality of life of the patients with lung cancer. It is necessary to improve interventions focusing on prevention and overcoming of addiction to smoking in a multi-disciplinary context. Keywords: lung cancer, patient, quality of life, smoking, symptoms