“Kind, Sensitive, and Above All, Honest”: Long-Term Cancer Survivors’ Quality of Life and Self-Advocacy

AbstractRationale/ObjectiveQuality of life (QoL) is an important issue in lung cancer survivors. We aimed to identify determinants of QoL in lung cancer survivors eligible for long-term cure.MethodsWe performed an exploratory analysis of a cross-sectional study of consecutive lung cancer survivors who completed curative-intent treatment ≥1 month previously. Variables tested included demographic, clinical, physiologic, and symptom-specific patient-reported outcome measures. We defined the primary outcome as a previously-validated cancer-specific QoL measure – the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer QoL Questionnaire Core 30 (C30) summary score. We also verified our findings with the C30 global health status/QoL subscale and a summated score of lung cancer-specific QoL from the EORTC-Lung Cancer Module 13.ResultsIn 75 enrolled participants, measures of fatigue, depression, sleep difficulties, and dyspnea were statistically significant determinants of the C30 summary score in multivariable linear regression analyses. Together, these four symptoms accounted for approximately 85% of the variance in cancer-specific QoL (p<0.001). When we verified our findings with global QoL and lung cancer-specific QoL, fatigue and dyspnea were consistent determinants of QoL.ConclusionsWe found four symptoms – dyspnea, fatigue, depression, and sleep difficulties – that are important determinants of and together accounted for almost all of the variance in cancer-specific QoL in lung cancer survivors eligible for long-term cure. These findings have implications to reduce symptom burden and improve function and QoL in these patients.

Download Full-text

Concerns and Quality of Life of Cancer Survivors Across the Survivorship Trajectory: A Singapore Perspective

10.21203/rs.2.14780/v1 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Gek Phin Chua ◽

Quan Sing Ng ◽

Hiang Khoon Tan ◽

Whee Sze Ong

Keyword(s):

Quality Of Life ◽

Cancer Survivors ◽

Cancer Treatment ◽

Cancer Survivorship ◽

Recurrence Risk ◽

Term Treatment ◽

Fear Of Recurrence ◽

Long Term Treatment

Abstract Background The aim of this study is to determine the main concerns of survivors at various stages of the cancer survivorship of the cancer survivorship trajectory and to assess whether these concerns have any effect on their quality of life (QOL). The overall goal was to use the insights from the study to guide practice on patient care. Methods A cross-sectional survey of 1107 cancer survivors diagnosed with colorectal, breast, lung, gynaecological, prostate or liver cancers from a cancer centre in Singapore. Eligible patients self-completed a questionnaire adapted from the Mayo Clinic Cancer Centre’s Cancer Survivors Survey of Needs. Results The top 5 concerns among all survivors were cancer treatment and recurrence risk (51%), followed by long-term treatment effects (49%), fear of recurrence (47%), financial concerns (37%) and fatigue (37%). Cancer treatment and recurrence risk, long-term treatment effects and fear of recurrence were amongst the top concerns across the survivorship trajectory. Mean QOL was 7.3 on a scale of 0 – 10. Completed treatment patients had higher QOL score than the newly diagnosed and on treatment patients and the patients dealing with recurrence or second cancer patients. Predictors for QOL included the economic status and housing type of patients and whether patients were concerned with pain and fatigue Conclusion This study confirms that cancer survivors in Singapore face multiple challenges and had various concerns at various stages of cancer survivorship, some of which negatively affect their QOL It is critical to design patient care delivery that appropriately address the various concerns of cancer survivors in order for them to cope and improve their QOL.

Download Full-text