Bridging Perspectives: How Canadian Patients and Caregivers View Quality of Life in Multiple Myeloma Compared to Validated Instruments

Simple Summary Validated quality of life tools are commonly used to assess the impact of multiple myeloma on patients, and validated tools are also available to evaluate the quality of life of caregivers. However, most of these tools were created before recent treatment advances that have changed how people live with the disease. In this nationwide Canadian study, patients and caregivers of patients with multiple myeloma completed standard questionnaires and rated their own quality of life. Questionnaire scores were only moderately correlated with patients’ and caregivers’ self-perceived quality of life, indicating that meaningful dimensions of daily life and treatment burden may be insufficiently captured by current validated questionnaires. These findings indicate that evolving treatment contexts have altered lived experiences and underscore the need for updated multiple myeloma- and caregiver-specific quality-of-life instruments to ensure assessments remain relevant and meaningful.