Quality of life

People taking part in the FOCUS trial will be asked to provide information about their quality of life. The trial is designed to find out how patients feel both physically and emotionally, before, during, and after the different treatments.

To collect this information you will be asked to complete brief questionnaires. The questionnaires look at aspects of your life such as the symptoms you experience, how you feel, and how well you are able to carry out everyday tasks. The researchers can then compare these results with those of people having other treatments. This information will help doctors to know what treatment is best for patients in the future.

The questionnaires will ask you about how you have been feeling during the previous week. They are designed to assess your day-to-day wellbeing, as well as to monitor any side effects you may be experiencing. Some of the questions you are asked may seem unrelated to your treatment. For example, you may be asked questions such as: Do you have trouble taking a long walk? Have you had trouble sleeping? Have you had difficulty in concentrating on things, like reading a newspaper or watching television? If the chemotherapy has an effect on any of these, it is influencing your quality of life.

You will be asked to fill in a questionnaire at your pre-treatment check up. After this you will be asked to complete further questionnaires at 6 weeks, 12 weeks and then once every 12 weeks.

Try and fill in your questionnaires by yourself and try to answer all of the questions. Don’t spend too much time thinking about each answer, as your first response is likely to be the most accurate. These questionnaires are treated confidentially and the information is anonymous when the results are collected together. This means you can feel free to write exactly how you feel without trying to put a brave face on things.