Quality of life in patients after meningioma resection

Objectives. To evaluate quality of life in patients after tumour resection. to assess different dimensions of quality of life, to compare a newly desi gned questionnaire with the Nottingham Health Profile. Subjective. A non-se lected neurosurgically treated series of patients with meningiomas was inve stigated with reference to quality of life as a judgement of one's own need s and concerns and subjective disease dependent perception. Methods. A postal survey was sent out to 155 patients who underwent resecti on of a meningioma between 1977 and 1993 at our clinic. The survey consiste d of the specifically designed "Innsbruck Health Dimensions Questionnaire f or Neurosurgical Patients" IHD(NS) and the Nottingham Health Profile NHP. T he data were put into categories and analysed statistically (Chi-square, Ma nn Whitney U, Kruaskai-Wallis H-tests). Results. 82 patients (53 female, 29 male) responded (response rate 59%). 10 had died and 7 had moved. The majority of patients (50/61% on NHP and 49/5 9.7% on IHD) had mild to moderate impairment of quality of life. 20% of the patients showed moderate to severe impairment of the dimensions: physical handicap and energy level. Physical impairment correlated to tumour size. T his group was characterised by mainly belonging to the over 70ies age group and taking anti-epileptics. Conclusions. The quality of life impairments in most patients after tumour resection can be classified as mild to moderate. However, other disease and age effects are difficult to distinguish without a control group. The IHD( NS) correlated well with the NHP questionnaire.