In the Netherlands, currently 44.500 patients live with or have survived Lymphoma or Multiple Myeloma (20-years prevalence). Health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and disease-specific symptoms have become more important over the years because of a favorable survival. In addition, indolent non-Hodgkin lymphoma and chronic lymphatic leukemia (CLL) are generally regarded more of a chronic disease, remaining present over many years after diagnosis. Previous research identified that HRQoL varied by age, sex, comorbid diseases, and the presence of late effects. Besides, several studies indicated lower physical functioning, cognitive functioning, psychological distress, and problems concerning sexuality, fatigue, appetite loss, vitality, and finances in patients with lymphoma. However, the majority of studies about HRQoL in lymphoma or multiple myeloma is cross-sectional in design, and insight in underlying mechanisms of HRQoL, relying best on longitudinal study designs, is lacking.
The VITA-study is a prospective observational population-based cohort. Patients will be asked to participate at diagnosis and will be approached at 0, 3, 6, 12 and 24 months after diagnosis. The main objective is to assess HRQoL and (disease-specific) symptoms in patients with Lymphoma or Multiple Myeloma before, during and up to two years after diagnosis. In addition, to identify the role of demographic (age, gender), clinical (disease characteristics, treatment, side effects), physiological (daily activity, heart rate, sleep), biological (blood samples) and environmental (Body Mass Index, food intake) characteristics on HRQoL of Lymphoma and Multiple Myeloma patients and identify individuals or groups at risk of lower HRQoL. Finally, we will investigate the association of mediating mechanisms (e.g. inflammation levels, body composition, heart rate, physical activity) with poor physical and psychosocial outcomes in Lymphoma and Multiple Myeloma patients in order to answer the question; why is a person at risk?
