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Quality of life after acoustic neuroma surgery
Author(s) -
Nikolopoulos Thomas P.,
Johnson Ian,
O'Donoghue Gerard M.
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
the laryngoscope
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.181
H-Index - 148
eISSN - 1531-4995
pISSN - 0023-852X
DOI - 10.1097/00005537-199809000-00024
Subject(s) - medicine , acoustic neuroma , quality of life (healthcare) , referral , affect (linguistics) , neuroma , surgery , psychology , family medicine , nursing , communication
Objective : To assess how surgery affected the quality of life of patients with acoustic neuromas and to investigate possible predictors of the functional outcome following surgery. Study Design : A questionnaire based on the Glasgow Benefit Inventory was completed by patients randomly selected following acoustic neuroma surgery. Setting : Skull base surgery unit of a university teaching hospital (tertiary referral center). Patients : Fifty‐three patients with acoustic tumors (follow‐up, 1 to 3 y). Results : With regard to overall quality of life, nine patients (17.4%) reported that it became better, 28 patients (53.8%) worse, and 15 patients (28.8%) that it remained the same. Four patients (7.8%) became better off financially, 15 patients (29.4%) worse, and 32 (62.8%) remained unchanged. Forty‐one patients (78.8%) did not change their occupation, and 11 (21.2%) had to change their occupation, mainly because of the adverse effects of the operation. With regard to the age at operation, older patients were found to have better overall quality of life. Moreover, younger patients had worse postoperative financial status and they were more likely to change their occupation after the operation. The tumor size did not significantly affect the overall postoperative quality, but it did affect the postoperative financial status (patients with larger tumors were more likely to have worse postoperative financial status). Conclusion : Acoustic neuroma surgery has a significant impact on patients' overall quality of life. Surgeons proposing to operate on small tumors should not assume that the impact on patients' life will be necessarily less than that following the removal of larger tumors. All patients, especially in the younger age group, should be prepared and thoroughly informed about the consequences of the operation on their quality of life.