HPRHealth Psychology ResearchTBA2420-8124Health Psychology Research10.52965/001c.117643GeneralHealth-related quality of life in hemato-oncology patients: role of   informativeness and doctor-patient communication https://healthpr.org/journal/HPR/12/1/10.52965/001c.117643SremićStella,BrajkovićLovorka,KopilašVanja20241212024-05-26Background The patient’s information about the disease and doctor-patient communication are both constructs whose importance is emphasized in the theory, but much less frequently researched and used in the practice. Objective This study aimed to determine whether certain facets of health-related quality of life of hemato-oncology patients in Croatia could be predicted based on patients’ sociodemographic data, the disease’s determinants, the patients’ information about their disease and the quality of doctor-patient communication. Methods 60 women and 54 men with diagnoses of both leukemia and lymphoma have participated in filling out questionnaires. The survey consisted of a sociodemographic questionnaire, EORTC QLQ-C30~(version 3)~, EORTC QLQ-INFO25 and the Doctor-Patient Communication Questionnaire. Results Patients’ sociodemographic data, the disease’s determinants, the patients’ information about their disease and the quality of doctor-patient communication predicted 26.8 % variance of global health status (F = 2.756, p < .01), 35.7% variance of physical functioning (F = 4.196, p < .01), 23.3% variance of role functioning (F = 2.291, p < .05), 29.9% variance of emotional functioning (F = 3.215, p < .01) and 27.9% of social functioning (F = 2.881, p < .01). Predictors that significantly contributed to the change in variance of health-related quality of life were age, duration of diagnosis, the existence of comorbidity, frequency of hospitalization, talking with the psychologist after getting the diagnosis and information. Conclusion The study offers valuable insights into an under-researched patient population and a better understanding of their health-related quality of life. The results indicate the importance of information that can be implemented in everyday clinical practice, and pave the way for further research on doctor-patient communication.leukemia, lymphoma, doctor-patient communication, information, health-related quality of life

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