Appraisal of needs for rehabilitation in patients with multiple myeloma

Between November 2014 and January 2016, 90 consecutive patients were included in this cross sectional survey of patients diagnosed with multiple myeloma. The study was approved by the Institute Ethics Committee and informed written consent was obtained. All patients (new and relapsed), irrespective of disease status and duration from diagnosis, underwent baseline evaluation following which they completed a scale exploring their functional status by Barthel mobility index scoring and QOL with the EORTC QOL scale with its myeloma module. The data was split into three subsets. First, newly diagnosed patients (naïve and on 1^st line treatment) and relapsed categories. Second, according to disease status; and third as per duration from diagnosis (<6 months, 6-12 months, 12-24 months and >24 months). Mean score and frequency (%) was calculated. Comparison of scores between different categories was analyzed.