Evidence map›Paper›PMID 29147319›Full record

ArticleWorld journal of oncology2012

Quality of Life in Patients With Primary and Metastatic Brain Tumors in the Literature as Assessed by the FACT-Br.

Nicholas Chiu, Leonard Chiu, Liang Zeng, Liying Zhang, David Cella, Marko Popovic, Ronald Chow, Henry Lam, Michael Poon, Edward Chow

Open access · hybridAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in World journal of oncology, 2012. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact, top 87% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

4 citing papers in PubMed, 6 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
  2. Review
  3. Article
  4. Influence of Epilepsy on the Quality of Life of Patients with Brain Tumors.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021
    Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

10 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Nicholas ChiuRapid Response Radiotherapy Program, Department of Radiation Oncology, Odette Cancer Centre, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Leonard ChiuRapid Response Radiotherapy Program, Department of Radiation Oncology, Odette Cancer Centre, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Liang ZengRapid Response Radiotherapy Program, Department of Radiation Oncology, Odette Cancer Centre, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Liying ZhangRapid Response Radiotherapy Program, Department of Radiation Oncology, Odette Cancer Centre, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
David CellaDepartment of Medical Social Sciences, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, USA.
Marko PopovicRapid Response Radiotherapy Program, Department of Radiation Oncology, Odette Cancer Centre, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Ronald ChowRapid Response Radiotherapy Program, Department of Radiation Oncology, Odette Cancer Centre, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Henry LamRapid Response Radiotherapy Program, Department of Radiation Oncology, Odette Cancer Centre, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Michael PoonRapid Response Radiotherapy Program, Department of Radiation Oncology, Odette Cancer Centre, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Edward ChowRapid Response Radiotherapy Program, Department of Radiation Oncology, Odette Cancer Centre, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Health Sciences Centre · CA

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundThe Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Brain (FACT-Br) is a quality of life (QOL) assessment tool that was originally developed for use in patients with primary brain tumors. However, the tool has also been used to assess QOL in patients with metastatic brain tumors. The purpose of this study is to compare the differences in QOL responses as assessed by the FACT-Br in patients with primary and metastatic brain neoplasms.

methodsA systematic literature search was conducted using the OvidSP platform in MEDLINE (1946 to July Week 2 2012) and EMBASE (1980 to 2012 Week 28). Articles in which the FACT-Br was used as a QOL assessment for patients with malignant brain tumors (both primary and metastatic) were included in the study. The weighted means of FACT-Br subscale and overall scores were calculated for the studies. To compare these scores, weighted analysis of variance was conducted and PROC GLM was performed for the data. A P-value of < 0.05 was considered statistically significant.

resultsA total of 23 studies (four in brain metastases, 18 in primary brain tumors and 1 in a mixed sample) using the FACT-Br for assessment of QOL were identified. Social and functional well-being were significantly better in patients with primary brain tumors (weighted mean score of 22.2 vs. 10.7, P = 0.0026, 16.9 vs. 6.2, P = 0.0025, respectively). No other scale of the FACT-Br was significantly different between the two groups and the performance status of patients included in both groups was similar.

conclusionPatients with primary brain cancer seemed to have better social and functional well-being scores than those with metastatic brain tumors. Other QOL domains were similar between these two groups. However, the heterogeneity in the included studies and the low sample size of included samples in patients with metastatic brain tumors could have confounded our findings.

Indexed as

Brain metastasesFACT-BrPrimary brain tumorsQuality of Life

Identifiers

PMID29147319
PMCPMC5649806
OpenAlexW2051881169

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.