Evidence map›Paper›PMID 33304601›Full record

ArticleNeuro-oncology practice2020

Measuring change in health-related quality of life: the impact of different analytical methods on the interpretation of treatment effects in glioma patients.

Marijke B Coomans, Martin J B Taphoorn, Neil K Aaronson, Brigitta G Baumert, Martin van den Bent, Andrew Bottomley, Alba A Brandes, Olivier Chinot, Corneel Coens, Thierry Gorlia and 10 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Neuro-oncology practice, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
7citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
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

7 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Challenges in interpreting individual-level changes in health-related quality of life in patients with glioma using minimally important differences (MIDs) and a 4-point Likert scale.Quality of life research : an international journal of quality of life aspects of treatment, care and rehabilitation · 2025
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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

20 authors.

Marijke B CoomansDepartment of Neurology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, the Netherlands.
Martin J B TaphoornDepartment of Neurology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, the Netherlands.
Neil K AaronsonDivision of Psychosocial Research and Epidemiology, The Netherlands Cancer Institute, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
Brigitta G BaumertInstitute of Radiation-Oncology, Kantonsspital Graubünden, Chur, Switzerland.
Martin van den BentThe Brain Tumor Center, Erasmus MC Cancer Institute, Rotterdam, the Netherlands.
Andrew BottomleyQuality of Life Department, European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer, Brussels, Belgium.
Alba A BrandesDepartment of Medical Oncology, Azienda USL-IRCCS Institute of Neurological Sciences, Bologna, Italy.
Olivier ChinotAix-Marseille Université, APHM, CNRS, INP, Inst Neurophysiopathol, CHU Timone, Service de Neuro-Oncologie, Marseille, France.
Corneel CoensQuality of Life Department, European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer, Brussels, Belgium.
Thierry GorliaEuropean Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Headquarters, Brussels, Belgium.
Ulrich HerrlingerDivision of Clinical Neurooncology, Department of Neurology, University of Bonn Medical Center, Bonn, Germany.
Florence Keime-GuibertGroupe Hôpital Pitié-Salpetrière, Paris, France.
Annika MalmströmDepartment of Advanced Home Care and Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden.
Francesca MartinelliQuality of Life Department, European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer, Brussels, Belgium.
Roger StuppNorthwestern University, Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois, US.
Andrea TalacchiDepartment of Neurosciences, Azienda Ospedaliera San Giovanni Addolorata, Roma, Italia.
Michael WellerDepartment of Neurology, University Hospital and University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.ORCID 0000-0002-1748-174X
Wolfgang WickNeurology Clinic and National Centre for Tumour Diseases, University Hospital Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany.ORCID 0000-0002-6171-634X
Jaap C ReijneveldDepartment of Neurology and Brain Tumour Center Amsterdam, Amsterdam University Medical Center, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
Linda DirvenDepartment of Neurology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, the Netherlands.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundDifferent analytical methods may lead to different conclusions about the impact of treatment on health-related quality of life (HRQoL). This study aimed to examine 3 different methods to evaluate change in HRQoL and to study whether these methods result in different conclusions.

methodsHRQoL data from 15 randomized clinical trials were combined (CODAGLIO project). Change in HRQoL scores, measured with the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire Core 30 and BN20 questionnaires, was analyzed in 3 ways: (1) at the group level, comparing mean changes in scale/item scores between treatment arms, (2) at the patient level per scale/item, calculating the percentage of patients that deteriorated, improved, or remained stable per scale/item, and (3) at the individual patient level, combining all scales/items.

resultsBaseline and first follow-up HRQoL data were available for 3727 patients. At the group scale/item level, only the item "hair loss" showed a significant and clinically relevant change (ie, ≥10 points) over time, whereas change scores on the other scales/items were statistically significant only (all

conclusionsDifferent analytical methods of changes in HRQoL result in distinct conclusions of treatment effects, all of which may be relevant for informing clinical decision making.

Indexed as

brain tumorpatient-reported outcomequality of lifequestionnaire

Identifiers

PMID33304601
PMCPMC7716184

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

None linked

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.