Support Care Cancer (2006) 14: 1205–1212 DOI 10.1007/s00520-006-0080-3 ORIGINAL ARTICLE Margareta Gustafsson Tanja Edvardsson Gerd Ahlström Received: 2 February 2006 Accepted: 10 April 2006 Published online: 19 May 2006 # Springer-Verlag 2006 The relationship between function, quality of life and coping in patients with low-grade gliomas Abstract Objectives: The principal aim of the study was to describe function, quality of life and coping with illness-related problems in patients with low-grade gliomas (LGG),to evaluate the need of support. A second aim was to investigate how function, quality of life and coping were related. Materials and methods: Thirty-nine patients with a diagnosis of LGG answered the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Core Quality of Life Questionnaire (EORTC-QLQ-C30) and the Ways of Coping Questionnaire (WCQ). The patients’ level of function was assessed in accordance with the WHO performance status scale. Results and discussion: Nearly all patients were capable of self-care, but less than half were able to carry out normal activ- ities without restriction. Problems with fatigue, sleep disturbances and pain were most frequent. Most diffi- culties were reported in the domains, Role,Cognitive and Emotional func- tioning. Seventeen patients (45%) had scores indicating low overall quality of life.Ratings of overall quality of life and fatigue had the strongest relationship. The trend in the results suggested that mental problems have a stronger impact on quality of life than physical ones. Emotion- focused coping dominated. There was a significant relationship between coping by escape-avoidance and lower level of emotional functioning. Conclusions: The results of this study indicate that a multidisciplinary team is needed for assessment and treatment of the different problems in patients with LGG. Furthermore, special attention should be paid to patients who use coping by escape-avoidance, as this is associated with emotional distress. KeywordsLow-grade gliomas . Brain tumour . Function . Quality of life . Coping Introduction Approximately1,200individualsarediagnosedwith primary brain tumour every year in Sweden.In most cases,they have tumours of glial origin.Gliomasare gradedaccordingto theiraggressiveness. High-grade gliomas (HGG, grades IIIand IV) are very aggressive with short survival time, while low-grade gliomas (LGG, grades I and II) grow more slowly [1]. Pignatti etal.[2] reported that the median survival time forpatients with LGG is 6–7 years but can range up to decades. Symptoms of LGG depend on the size and the location of the tumour,rateof growthand consequences of increased intracranial pressure [1]. Frequent symptoms are headache, nausea, vomiting,seizures, fatigueand sleepiness [2–4]. Most patients have cognitive dysfuncti of variousdegrees, from mild dysfunction with good information processing and good performance to severe dysfunction with problems in mostcognitivedomains [5–7].Neurological deficitsalso occur;in mostcases, motor impairment limited to difficulties with function in the upper limbs [2, 6]. M. Gustafsson (*) Centre for Assessment of Medical Technology in Örebro, KFC, Örebro University Hospital, SE-701 85 Örebro, Sweden e-mail: margareta.gustafsson@hi.oru.se Tel.: +46-19-303643 Fax: +46-19-303601 M. Gustafsson . G. Ahlström Department of Health Sciences, Örebro University, SE-701 82 Örebro, Sweden T. Edvardsson Centre for Rehabilitation Research, Örebro County Council, SE-701 16 Örebro, Sweden