You have full access to this open access article. Electronic patient-reported outcomes were performed as clinical routine procedures.
Cancer survivors underwent a 3-week multidisciplinary inpatient rehabilitation. Twenty-one different cancer entities were analyzed separately before T0 and by the end T1 of rehabilitation. Four thousand four hundred one of rehabilitants were evaluable, having completed both questionnaires at T0 and T1. All function mean scores and HRQOL were lower than in Austrian normal population, while levels of anxiety, depression, and all symptom scores were higher.
HRQOL was particularly low in lung, liver, and bladder cancer patients. Maximum anxiety levels were observed in patients with breast and thyroid cancer patients, the highest levels of depression in liver and brain cancer patients. Fatigue was severe in patients with lung, liver, esophageal, bladder cancer, and myeloma patients.
Mean scores were also high for pain and insomnia. We noted significant improvement of HRQOL, anxiety, depression, fatigue, emotional, social, role, and physical functions in each cancer entity with medium to large effect sizes. Other recorded symptoms were reduced in the majority of cancers. Rehabilitation effectively improves psychological distress and HRQOL as a part of treatment for various cancers.
Advances in cancer treatment have improved life expectancies and cure rates [ 1 , 2 ]. Many cancer survivors, however, experience severe adverse effects from chemotherapy, radiotherapy, or surgical procedures. Pain, nausea, vomiting, loss of appetite or weight, diarrhea, decreased muscular strength and endurance capacity, lymphedema, cognitive deficits, sleeping disorders, and fatigue reduce HRQOL [ 3 , 4 , 5 ].
