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Is long-term cancer survivors’ quality of life comparable to that of the general population? An italian study

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Abstract

Purpose

Since long-term survivorship is now a reality for an increasingly number of people with a history of cancer, understanding their quality of life (QoL) can inform health care policy as well as help supporting individual patients. This study was aimed to quantify QoL of this specific population in comparison with data provided for both the general population and cancer patients and to assess QoL association with several sociodemographic, clinical, and psychological variables.

Methods

Three hundred fourteen Italian long-term cancer survivors (people who have been free from cancer and cancer treatments for at least 5 years) completed a battery of questionnaires including the SF12 for QoL assessment.

Results

Both physical and mental functioning were higher than those among Italian cancer patients but lower than those of the Italian general population (p < .001). Poorer QoL (physical and mental functioning) was associated more often with psychological conditions (as anxiety and depression) than with sociodemographic and cancer-related variables.

Conclusions

These data support an ongoing specific interest in the QoL of long-term cancer survivors and suggest the need for further study of multidimensional functioning in this population.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by Italian Ministry of Health: RF Ordinary 2006 “Medical and Psycho-Social Rehabilitation Program for Long-Term Cancer Survivors” and RF Ordinary 2009 “Cancer Survivorship: a new paradigm of care. The authors wish to thank Ms Anna Vallerugo, MA, for her writing assistance.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centro di Riferimento, National Cancer Institute, Aviano, Italy

    Maria Antonietta Annunziata, Barbara Muzzatti, Lorena Giovannini & Umberto Tirelli

  2. Istituto Tumori “G. Paolo II”, National Cancer Institute, Bari, Italy

    Francesca Romito, Claudia Cormio & Vittorio Mattioli

  3. Istituto Tumori “G. Pascale”, National Cancer Institute, Napoli, Italy

    Daniela Barberio, Valentina Abate & Francesco De Falco

  4. Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Italian National Institute of Health, Roma, Italy

    Fiorino Mirabella, Angelo Picardi & Riccardo Capocaccia

  5. Unit of Oncological Psychology, Centro di Riferimento Oncologico, IRCCS Istituto Nazionale Tumori, Via F. Gallini, 2, 33081, Aviano, PN, Italy

    Maria Antonietta Annunziata

Authors
  1. Maria Antonietta Annunziata
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  2. Barbara Muzzatti
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  3. Lorena Giovannini
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  4. Francesca Romito
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  5. Claudia Cormio
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  6. Vittorio Mattioli
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  7. Daniela Barberio
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  8. Valentina Abate
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  9. Francesco De Falco
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  10. Fiorino Mirabella
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  11. Angelo Picardi
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  13. Umberto Tirelli
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Correspondence to Maria Antonietta Annunziata.

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Annunziata, M.A., Muzzatti, B., Giovannini, L. et al. Is long-term cancer survivors’ quality of life comparable to that of the general population? An italian study. Support Care Cancer 23, 2663–2668 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-015-2628-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-015-2628-6

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