Reporting of patient-reported health-related quality of life in adults with diffuse low-grade glioma: a systematic review

Abstract

Background: Patient-reported health-related quality of life (HRQoL) analysis can provide important information for managing the balance between treatment benefits and treatment-related adverse effects on quality of life (QoL). This systematic review sought to identify the range of HRQoL measures used for patients with diffuse hemispheric WHO grade II glioma (DLGG) and assess the quality of HRQoL reporting.

Methods: This systematic review was conducted according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. Databases were searched for full-text English articles reporting HRQoL outcomes in adult patients with DLGG.

Results: Eleven different QoL measures were used across the 26 included studies, none of which has been validated in patients with DLGG. Heterogeneity of study design prevented pooled analysis of data investigating the effect of interventions or establishing long-term HRQoL. Low rates of participation at baseline (mean: 64.0%) and high rates of subsequent dropout (2.1% per month) were identified. Five studies gave statistical methods to deal with missing data or provided evidence of clinical significance of HRQoL results.

Conclusions: The results demonstrate a paucity and heterogeneity of reporting of HRQoL in the DLGG literature, highlighting the need for a standardized assessment schedule and set of validated quality-of-life measures for future studies.

Keywords: diffuse low-grade glioma; glioma; health-related quality of life; quality of life.