Long-Term Quality of Life of Vestibular Schwannoma Patients: A Longitudinal Analysis

OBJECTIVE: Vestibular schwannoma management aims to maintain optimal quality of life (QoL) while preventing severe sequelae of the tumor or its treatment. This study assessed long-term QoL of patients with vestibular schwannoma in relation to treatment modality and decisional regret.

STUDY DESIGN: A longitudinal study, in which clinical and QoL data were used that were cross-sectionally acquired in 2014 and again in 2020 from the same patient group.

SETTING: A tertiary expert center for vestibular schwannoma care in the Netherlands.

METHODS: QoL was measured by the Penn Acoustic Quality of Life (PANQOL) scale. Changes in time were assed using a linear mixed model. In addition, the Decision Regret Scale was analyzed.

RESULTS: Of 867 patients, 536 responded (62%), with a median follow-up of 11 years. All PANQOL subdomain scores remained stable over time and did not exceed minimal clinically important difference (MCID) levels. Time since treatment did not affect QoL. Patients had comparable average QoL scores and proportions of patients with changing QoL scores (ie, exceeding the MCID) over time, irrespective of the received initial treatment. Female patients and those who required salvage therapy (either by radiotherapy or surgery) reported a lower QoL. The latter patient group reported the highest decisional regret.

CONCLUSION: On average, the long-term QoL of patients with vestibular schwannoma is comparable for patients under active surveillance and those who have received active treatment, and it remains stable over time. This suggests that, on average, preservation of QoL of patients with vestibular schwannoma is feasible when adequately managed.