Health services - Research lines Jordi Alonso

Multicentric, coordinated study on the health care process and outcomes in a cohort of patients diagnosed with urological cancer (bladder and prostate). Subproject of quality of life and psycho-social needs.

Research team: Montse Ferrer (IP), Garin O, Pardo Y, Martínez A, Urreta I, Hervás A, Francés A.

Objectives:

Assessment of the impact of urologic cancers (bladder and prostate) in health related quality of life (HRQOL) of patients at diagnosis and during the first two years of follow-up;
Evaluation of the effect of age, social class, comorbidity, tumour stage and other clinical and treatment characteristics in these patients’ HRQOL;
Comparison between the evolution of the mental health component in patients receiving psychological treatment and those who do not receive it.
Comparison among hospitals of the HRQL evolution in patients with urologic cancers after adjusting by age, social class, comorbidity, tumour stage and other clinical and treatment characteristics.

Methods: Multicenter observational study of a prospective inception cohort of patients diagnosed with bladder cancer (n= 900) and prostate cancer (n=600). Consecutive patients with an anatomopathologically confirmed diagnosis of bladder or prostate cancer (between 1/04/2010 and 31/03/2011) will be identified in 7 Spanish hospitals (5 regions). Their data will be collected in a database designed specifically for the project, which will include all the information about the onset of symptoms, the clinical process, diagnosis and therapy. HRQL assessments will be conducted before treatment, at 6 and 15-24 months after treatment.

These assessments will include: the generic questionnaires SF-36 and EQ-5D, which will permit to compare results with the Spanish reference standards; a generic questionnaire for patients with cancer, either FACT-G or EORTC-QLQ-C30, and a specific.

Key Words: Quality of life, prostate cancer, bladder cancer, urologic cancer, health services, outcomes

Funding: FONDO DE INVESTIGACIÓN SANITARIA. ISCIII. PS09/02139