Quality of life of cancer patients receiving home infusion services. A pilot study.

Quality of life (QOL) has become an increasingly popular outcome measure in healthcare during the past 20 years. Despite its growing popularity, there is no professional agreement regarding definitions, conceptual models, or instrumentation. Many patient populations have been studied, but there has been minimal investigation of health-related QOL in patients receiving homecare, especially home infusion services. This study, which used the Ferrans and Powers Cancer Index III, explored QOL in cancer patients receiving home infusion therapies for at least 30 days. Although no statistically significant improvements in QOL were identified, the study was useful in pinpointing relevant issues for future QOL investigation in homecare and home infusion.