A comparison of Portuguese and American patients with hematological malignancies: a cross-cultural survey of health-related quality of life.

This study investigates health-related quality of life (QoL) differences between 98 Portuguese and 109 US American outpatients with hematological malignancies. These two national groups of patients were characterized in terms of patients' QoL, and socio-demographic and clinical variables. Differences were found for several socio-demographic variables (race, marital and job status, urban residence, diagnosis, age, education, and household size). Portuguese patients reported better physical functioning, less bodily pain, more vitality, better social functioning, and better general QoL [as measured by Functional Living Index-Cancer (FLIC) total score] than American patients. Results were independent of demographic differences or mode of questionnaire administration. Copyright 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.