General health related quality of life and associated factors among prostate cancer patients in two tertiary medical centers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia: a cross-sectional study

Measurement of quality of life among prostate cancer patients helps the health care providers to understand the impact of the disease in the patients' own perspective. The main aim of this study is to measure the quality of life among prostate cancer patients at University Malaya Medical Center (UMMC) and Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Medical Centre (UKMMC) and to ascertain the association factors for physical coefficient summary (PCS) and mental coefficient summary (MCS). A hospital based, cross sectional study using the Short Form-36 (SF-36) questionnaire was conducted over a period of 6 months. A total of 193 respondents were recruited. Their total quality of life score was 70.1± 14.7 and the PCS score was lower compared to MCS. The factors associated for PCS were: age, living partner, renal problem, urinary problem of intermittency, dysuria and hematuria. Factors associated for MCS were: age, living partner, renal problem, presenting prostatic specific antigen and urinary problem of intermittency and dysuria. Our prostate cancer patients had moderate quality of life in the physical health components but their mental health was less affected.