Socio-Demographic Characteristics Associated with Quality of Life-Scores among Palliative Care Cancer Patients in Kenya

Abstract

Background: Cancer morbidity and mortality is rising more rapidly in the low and middle income countries, where the infrastructure for diagnosis and care is extremely limited compared to the developed countries. Palliative care aims to mitigate these effects and improve Quality of Life (QoL) of cancer patients by providing appropriate support across life’s domains as the disease progresses. However, these services are not readily available in sub-Saharan Africa and even if they are, often they are not optimized and outcomes rarely assessed. The current study evaluated the socio-demographic characteristics and quality of life of palliative care cancer patients at Kisii Teaching and Referral Hospital. Methods: Through a descriptive cross-sectional design, 120 palliative care cancer patients were assessed for quality of life using MVQOL-I. The association between social demographic characteristic with QoL was analyzed using one-way ANOVA. Results: The modal age-groups were 45-54 years old (30%) and 25-34 (22.5%) p=<0.001); females comprised 63%; and those with post-primary level education 66% (p=0.030). Total QOL scores were significantly higher among older age-groups, higher education levels, formally employed, married and better monthly income within socio-demographic characteristics. These results indicate that while majority of patients experienced satisfactory QoL, there exist large unmet palliative care needs. There is need to strengthen capacity and competence of palliative care providers to enable them provide comprehensive palliative services.