Little studies were conducted to assess the health –related quality of life (HR-QoL) of patients with multiple myeloma (MM) in developing and resource-limited countries. This study assessed the HR-QoL of patients with MM who received treatment in the Palestinian healthcare system as an example of healthcare systems in developing and resource-limited countries. Predictors of deteriorated HR-QoL of the afected patients were also identifed. In this cross-sectional study, the tool was a questionnaire that collected the demographic and disease variables of the patients. The questionnaire also contained the EORTC QLQ-MY24 items. The questionnaire was piloted to ensure readability, clarity, and comprehensibility. Additionally, the test–retest reliability and internal consistency were also assessed. In this study, 45.5% of patients with MM who were treated in the Palestinian healthcare system returned usable questionnaires. The mean age of the patients was 60.7±7.5 years and the mean time elapsed since diagnosis was 2.6±1.7 years. Of the patients, 54.3%, 47.8%, 46.7%, 66.3%, 46.7%, and 46.7% reported frequent bone pain, pain that increased with activity, back pain, feeling ill, lost hair, and feeling restless or agitated, respectively. Higher disease symptom scores were predicted by low self-rated satisfaction with the ability to do daily life activities and low self-rated satisfaction with overall health. The side efects of treatment scores were predicted by longer time elapsed since diagnosis and low self-rated satisfaction with overall health. Future perspective scores were predicted by low self-rated satisfaction with overall health. On the other hand, social support scores were predicted by having a university education and not receiving radiotherapy. Patients with MM who were treated in the Palestinian healthcare system reported a heavy burden of disease symptoms, treatment adverse efects, and dissatisfaction with the information they received about their disease. The fndings reported in this study are informative to hemato-oncologists and other healthcare providers who care for patients with MM in Palestine and other developing and resource-limited countries. Policymakers might use the fndings reported in this study to design interventions to improve the HR-QoL of the patients.

Title

Annals of Hematology

Publisher

Springer

Publisher Country

Netherlands

Indexing

Thomson Reuters

Impact Factor

3.0

Publication Type

Both (Printed and Online)

Volume

102

Year

2023

Pages

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