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The relationship of chronic disease conditions to mental and physical health among cancer survivors

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Abstract

Purpose

This study examined the relationship between the presence of chronic disease conditions and mental and physical health among cancer survivors in the United States.

Methods

We conducted a cross-sectional analysis utilizing survey data from the 2016–2017 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) on 65,673 eligible cancer survivors. The primary outcomes of interest were self-rated metal/physical health in the past 30 days. Descriptive statistics and multivariate logistic regression were used to examine the mentioned association.

Results

15.3% and 24.8% of survivors reported having several days of poor mental and physical health (14–30 days compared to 0–13 days), and 42.4% of survivors reported having one to two chronic diseases. In multivariate analysis, survivors with one to two chronic diseases were more likely to report several days of poor mental (OR, 2.74; 95% CI, 2.22–3.38) and physical (OR, 1.95; 95% CI, 1.72–2.22) health. Survivors with 3+ chronic diseases had markedly higher odds of having several days of poor mental (OR, 6.41; 95% CI, 5.19–7.91) and physical health (OR, 4.71; 95% CI, 4.16–5.34). Among survivors with at least one chronic disease, older age, insured, and more perceived social/emotional support were negatively associated with mental health (p value <0.05). Similarly, older age was related to fewer days of poor physical health (p value <0.05) regardless of chronic disease conditions.

Conclusion

Having chronic diseases was associated with more days of poor mental and physical health among cancer survivors. Integrated, extensive care should include mental/physical health components and chronic disease management in cancer survivorship care.

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Data availability

The datasets generated during the current study are available in the Center for Disease Control, and Prevention repository, https://www.cdc.gov/brfss/.

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Acknowledgements

This research was partially supported through the Georgia Cancer Center Paceline funding mechanism (Principal Investigators: Meng-Han Tsai and Malcolm S. Bevel). Thanks to co-authors for their expertise and assistance throughout all aspects of this study and for their help in completing the manuscript.

Funding

This research was supported at least in part through the Georgia Cancer Center Paceline funding mechanism (principal investigator: Meng-Han Tsai, (MCGFD01050)). Malcolm S. Bevel (MCGFD01052) was also supported partially by the Georgia Cancer Center Paceline funding mechanism.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Cancer Prevention, Control, & Population Health Program, Georgia Cancer Center, Department of Medicine, Medical College of Georgia, Augusta University, 1410 Laney Walker Boulevard CN-2116, Augusta, GA, 30912, USA

    Meng-Han Tsai & Malcolm S. Bevel

  2. Georgia Prevention Institute, Augusta University, 1457 Walton Way, Augusta, GA, 30901, USA

    Meng-Han Tsai

  3. Department of Public Health, China Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan

    Yun-Hsuan Wu

Authors
  1. Meng-Han Tsai
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  2. Yun-Hsuan Wu
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  3. Malcolm S. Bevel
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Contributions

All authors contributed to the study conception. Material preparation and data analysis were performed by Meng-Han Tsai and Yun-Hsuan Wu. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Meng-Han Tsai and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Meng-Han Tsai.

Ethics declarations

Ethical approval

The respective health departments from each state grant Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval for the distribution and collection of data using the BRFSS. Data extracted for this study were publicly available and de-identified, and thus considered exempt from IRB review at Augusta University. This article does not include any studies with animals performed by any of the authors.

Consent to participate

Verbal informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study as per the BRFSS process for data collection.

Consent for publication

This study does not include any individual person’s data in any form (including any individual details, images, or videos).

Conflict of interest

The authors declare no competing interests.

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Tsai, MH., Wu, YH. & Bevel, M.S. The relationship of chronic disease conditions to mental and physical health among cancer survivors. Support Care Cancer 31, 364 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-023-07841-0

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