Comparison of Health-Related Quality of Life Between Japanese and American Patients with Bladder Cancer as Measured by a Newly Developed Japanese Version of the Bladder Cancer Index

Takahiro Osawa; John T Wei; Takashige Abe; Michitaka Honda; Karl T Rew; Rod Dunn; Shuhei Yamada; Jun Furumido; Hiroshi Kikuchi; Ryuji Matsumoto; Yasuyuki Sato; Toru Harabayashi; Norikata Takada; Keita Minami; Ken Morita; Akira Kashiwagi; Shunichi Fukuhara; Sachiyo Murai; Yoichi M Ito; Katsuhiko Ogasawara; Nobuo Shinohara

doi:10.3233/BLC-200359

Comparison of Health-Related Quality of Life Between Japanese and American Patients with Bladder Cancer as Measured by a Newly Developed Japanese Version of the Bladder Cancer Index

Bladder Cancer. 2021 Mar 19;7(1):61-69. doi: 10.3233/BLC-200359. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Takahiro Osawa¹, John T Wei², Takashige Abe¹, Michitaka Honda³, Karl T Rew², Rod Dunn², Shuhei Yamada¹, Jun Furumido¹, Hiroshi Kikuchi¹, Ryuji Matsumoto¹, Yasuyuki Sato⁴, Toru Harabayashi⁵, Norikata Takada⁵, Keita Minami⁶, Ken Morita⁷, Akira Kashiwagi⁸, Shunichi Fukuhara^{9

10}, Sachiyo Murai¹, Yoichi M Ito¹¹, Katsuhiko Ogasawara¹², Nobuo Shinohara¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Urology, Hokkaido University Graduate School of Medicine, Sapporo, Japan.
² Department of Urology, University of Michigan Health System, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
³ Department of Minimally Invasive Surgical and Medical Oncology, Fukushima Medical University, Fukushima, Japan.
⁴ Department of Urology, Keiyukai Hospital, Sapporo, Japan.
⁵ Department of Urology, Hokkaido Cancer Center, Sapporo, Japan.
⁶ Department of Urology, Sapporo City General Hospital, Sapporo, Japan.
⁷ Department of Urology, Kushiro City General Hospital, Kushiro, Japan.
⁸ Department of Urology, Teine Keijinkai Hospital, Sapporo, Japan.
⁹ Section of Clinical Epidemiology, Department of Community Medicine, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan.
¹⁰ Department of General Medicine, Shirakawa STAR, Fukushima Medical University, Fukushima, Japan.
¹¹ Clinical Research and Medical Innovation Center, Hokkaido University Hospital, Sapporo, Japan.
¹² Graduate School of Health Sciences, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Japan.

Abstract

Introduction: The aim of this study is to characterize health related quality of life (HRQOL) in Japanese patients after bladder cancer surgery and to perform cross-cultural comparison between Japanese and American patients.

Methods: Firstly, we cross-sectionally assessed HRQOL of 371 patients in Japan using the Bladder Cancer Index (BCI-Japanese). HRQOL of the four groups of patients (native bladder without intravesical therapy, native bladder with intravesicaltherapy, cystectomy with ileal conduit, and cystectomy with neobladder) were assessed. Secondly, we compared the Japanese with the American cohort (n = 315) from the original BCI paper. After adjusting for age and gender, the differences in each BCI subdomain score was analyzed.

Results: Among Japanese patients, the urinary domain function score was significantly lower among the cystectomy with neobladder group, compared to the cystectomy with ileal conduit group (p < 0. 01). Despite this, the urinary bother was comparable between the two groups. Although there were apparent differences between Japanese and American patients, there were few differences in Urinary and Bowel HRQOL. In three of the four treatment groups (other than native bladder with intravesical therapy), Japanese patients were more likely than Americans to report poor sexual function (p < 0.05). However, Japanese patients were less likely than Americans to be bothered by their lower sexual function, regardless of treatment (p < 0.05).

Conclusions: HRQOL outcomes following treatment of bladder cancer in Japan are comparable to those in the USA, except for sexual functioning and sexual bother. The BCI can be used for cross-cultural assessments of HRQOL in bladder cancer patients.

Keywords: Bladder cancer; bladder cancer index; cancer survivor; quality of life.