Health-related quality of life in long-term survivors of colorectal cancer and its association with all-cause mortality: a German cohort study

Table 5 HRs^a and 95% CIs of all-cause mortality for a 10-point-increment in HRQOL summary score among CRC survivors (n = 1294); stratified by potential effect modifiers

Potential effect modifiers	Total no. of individuals	No. of deaths	Age- & sex-adjusted HR (95% CI)	Multivariable-adjusted^b HR (95% CI)	p_interaction^c
Sex
Men	740	126	0.75 (0.68–0.82)	0.74 (0.66–0.82)
Women	554	49	0.78 (0.68–0.89)	0.75 (0.64–0.86)	0.48
Age at HRQOL assessment, years^d
< 69	626	50	0.78 (0.68–0.91)	0.88 (0.74–1.03)
≥ 69	668	125	0.74 (0.68–0.80)	0.72 (0.66–0.80)	0.81
BMI, kg/m²
< 25	497	72	0.68 (0.61–0.77)	0.67 (0.58–0.77)
25- < 30	558	75	0.78 (0.69–0.89)	0.82 (0.72–0.94)
≥ 30	239	28	0.81 (0.68–0.97)	0.76 (0.60–0.97)	0.19
Education
Low	597	96	0.79 (0.72–0.88)	0.80 (0.72–0.89)
Middle	393	44	0.81 (0.68–0.96)	0.79 (0.65–0.97)
High	292	34	0.58 (0.48–0.69)	0.57 (0.46–0.71)	0.03
Family status
Married/in partnership	991	127	0.77 (0.70–0.84)	0.77 (0.70–0.86)
Single, divorced or widowed	264	43	0.75 (0.64–0.88)	0.75 (0.64–0.89)	0.84
Smoking status
Never	509	53	0.81 (0.70–0.94)	0.81 (0.68–0.95)
Former	649	105	0.74 (0.67–0.82)	0.72 (0.65–0.81)
Current	116	14	0.78 (0.59–1.03)	0.74 (0.49–1.13)	0.22
Tumor location
Colon	613	72	0.77 (0.68–0.87)	0.78 (0.68–0.88)
Rectum	552	84	0.77 (0.69–0.86)	0.76 (0.67–0.87)	0.19
Therapy
None	681	95	0.68 (0.61–0.76)	0.67 (0.60–0.76)
Chemotherapy or radiation	325	47	0.87 (0.75–1.01)	0.88 (0.73–1.04)
Both	268	31	0.78 (0.65–0.95)	0.87 (0.70–1.08)	0.02
Metastases
Yes	209	50	0.76 (0.65–0.89)	0.78 (0.66–0.92)
No	872	95	0.76 (0.69–0.85)	0.75 (0.67–0.85)	0.71
Current stoma
Yes	151	30	0.69 (0.57–0.84)	0.60 (0.46–0.79)
No	1130	145	0.78 (0.72–0.85)	0.79 (0.72–0.86)	0.08

Abbreviations: BMI Body mass index, CI Confidence interval, CRC Colorectal cancer, HR Hazard ratio, HRQOL Health-related quality of life
^aCalculated with Cox proportional hazards regression model
^bAdjusted for sex, age at HRQOL assessment, BMI, physical activity, tumor location, therapy, metastases, other cancer, current stoma, education, family status, smoking status, and (age x time); except the stratifying variable
^cCalculated by including the cross product of the summary score and the respective potential effect modifier in the Cox proportional hazards regression model
^dCut-point based on median value

ISSN: 1471-2407