Understanding the impact of palliative and ablative radiotherapy (RT) on Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQOL) in patients with metastatic disease

Simple item page
dc.contributor.authorGhaffarian, Kimyaen
dc.contributor.authorMacanovic, Bojanen
dc.contributor.authorO’Cathail, Michealen
dc.contributor.authorO’Reilly, Seamusen
dc.contributor.authorMonaghan, Orlaen
dc.contributor.authorO’Meara, Karenen
dc.contributor.authorO’Carroll, Eoinen
dc.contributor.authorBarry, Aislingen
dc.contributor.editorMehta, Shobhaen
dc.contributor.editorCronin, Pádraigen
dc.date.accessioned2025-10-28T13:55:02Z
dc.date.available2025-10-28T13:55:02Z
dc.date.issued2025en
dc.description.abstractBackground: Radiotherapy (RT) is an effective but underutilized treatment option for patients with metastatic cancer. While studies have examined RT’s impact on health-related quality of life (HRQOL) internationally, there is limited data on Irish patients. Some research suggests aspects of quality of life may dip after RT but eventually return to baseline, though this varies depending on prognosis. Since healthcare systems, cultural factors, and socioeconomic conditions differ across countries, these findings may not be easily generalizable to the Irish population. This study aims to explore the feasibility of the use of electronic patient-reported outcomes (ePROs) to assess HRQOL in Irish patients receiving palliative or ablative RT. Methods: This single-institution observational study at Cork University Hospital utilizes the ePRO application, ONCOpatient, to administer pre-validated HRQOL questionnaires including the EORTC-QOL-C30, EORTC-QOL-C15 PAL, and EQ-5D-5L to patients or their caregivers via their smartphone at four-timepoints: baseline, final treatment, and 4- and 12-weeks-post-treatment. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize engagement and compliance. Longitudinal analysis will be conducted to evaluate HRQOL changes over time, and regression models will be used to identify predictors of HRQOL outcomes. Results: From October 2024 to March 2025, 22 participants were onboarded (mean age 63.23 years, 40.9% male, 59.1% female), with various cancer subtypes (breast n=7, lung n=5, renal n=3, other n=7). Overall app engagement was 54.5% (9/14 patients and 3/8 caregivers). Compliance declined over time: 40.9% at baseline, 25% at final treatment, 15% at 4-weeks post-RT, and 0% at 12-weeks post-RT. Barriers to app engagement included licensing issues, syncing delays and difficulty locating assessment dates. Limited provider engagement regarding patienen
dc.description.statusNot peer revieweden
dc.description.versionPublished Versionen
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdfen
dc.identifier.citationGhaffarian, K. Macanovic, B. O’Cathail, M., O’Reilly, S., Monaghan, O., O’Meara, K., O’Carroll, E., Barry, A. (2025) 'Understanding the impact of palliative and ablative radiotherapy (RT) on Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQOL) in patients with metastatic disease', UCC Student Medical Journal, 5, p. 102. https://doi.org/10.33178/SMJ.2025.1.28en
dc.identifier.doi10.33178/SMJ.2025.1.28en
dc.identifier.endpage102en
dc.identifier.issn2737-7237
dc.identifier.journalabbrevUCC SMJ
dc.identifier.journaltitleUCC Student Medical Journalen
dc.identifier.startpage102en
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10468/18105
dc.identifier.volume5
dc.language.isoenen
dc.publisherUCC Medical Research and Technology Societyen
dc.rights© 2025, the Author(s). This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.en
dc.rights.urihttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
dc.sourceBatch uploaden
dc.subjectPalliative and ablative radiotherapy (RT)en
dc.subjectHealth-Related Quality of Life (HRQOL)en
dc.subjectMetastatic diseaseen
dc.titleUnderstanding the impact of palliative and ablative radiotherapy (RT) on Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQOL) in patients with metastatic diseaseen
dc.typeConference itemen
Files
Original bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
Thumbnail Image
Name:
Understanding+the+impact+of+pallative+and+ablative+radiotherapy+(RT)+on+health-related+quality+of+life+(HRQOL)+in+patients+with+metastatic+disease (1).pdf
Size:
294.26 KB
Format:
Adobe Portable Document Format
Description:
Published Version
Download
Collections
UCC Student Medical Journal Vol. 5 (2025)