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Post-traumatic growth 5 years after cancer: identification of associated actionable factors

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Abstract

Background

The number of cancer survivors is growing increasingly worldwide. The long-term negative consequences of the disease are now better known. Cancer may also foster positive outcomes. Some survivors consider life after cancer as the start of a new life and experience positive changes called post-traumatic growth (PTG) measured by a scale developed by Tedeschi and Calhoun.

Objective

The purpose of this article was to explore actionable factors affecting PTG, particularly those in relation with health care management and those that reflected health behavior changes.

Methods

This study included the 1,982 participants in the VICAN cohort who responded to the questionnaire on living conditions 2 and 5 years after diagnosis. Factors associated with a moderate or high PTG (score ≥ 63) were identified using logistic regressions.

Results

Factors positively associated with moderate or high PTG were being satisfied with the time spent by health care team on information (OR:1.35 [1.08;1.70]), increased physical activity (OR:1.42 [1.04;1.95]) and healthier diet (OR:1.85 [1.44;2.36]) since diagnosis, and having benefited from psychological support at diagnosis (OR:1.53 [1.16;2.01]).

Conclusion

High PTG is positively associated with health behavior and time spent on information. Our findings suggest that appropriate clinical and educational interventions can help foster growth after the experience of cancer. Even if we do not know what causes what, it is admitted that the interventions leading to an increase of physical activity, for example, are good from all points of view.

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Data availability

Data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

Code availability

Not applicable.

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Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge the Institut National du Cancer (INCa).

Funding

The VICAN study was funded by the French National Institute of Cancer (Institut National du Cancer, INCa) Contrat de recherche et développement no 05–2011.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institut Paoli Calmettes, 232 Bd Sainte Marguerite, 13 273, Cedex 9, Marseille, France

    Catherine Evans

  2. Faculté Des Sciences Médicales Et Paramédicales de Marseille, UMR 7268-ADÉS Aix-Marseille Université-EFS-CNRS, Marseille, France

    Catherine Evans & Bérengère Saliba-Serre

  3. Institut de Psychologie, Université Lumière Lyon 2, Bron, France

    Marie Préau

  4. Inserm, IRD, SESSTIM, Sciences Economiques & Sociales de la Santé & Traitement de L’Information Médicale, ISSPAM, Aix Marseille Univ, Marseille, France

    Marc-Karim Bendiane & Anne-Déborah Bouhnik

  5. Centre de Recherche en Cancérologie de Marseille (CRCM), Inserm U1068, CNRS U7258, Institut Paoli-Calmettes, Aix-Marseille Univ, CNRS, INSERM, Marseille, France

    Anthony Gonçalves

  6. UMR 6578, CNRS—service d‘anthropologie biologique, 13385, Cedex 5, Marseille, France

    Michel Signoli

  7. Aix Marseille Univ, Marseille, France

    Michel Signoli

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  1. Catherine Evans
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  2. Bérengère Saliba-Serre
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Contributions

CE, ADB, and BSS designed the study. ADB and MKBD collected the data. BSS performed data analysis. CE, ADB, MKBD, and BSS interpreted the data. CE and ADB drafted the manuscript. All authors discussed, revised, and finally approved the manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Catherine Evans.

Ethics declarations

Ethical approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee (the CCTIRS, Comité Consultatif sur le Traitement de l’Information en Matière de Recherche dans le Domaine de la Santé, study registered under no 11–143; the ISP, Institute of Public Health, study registered under no C11–63; and the CNIL, French Commission on Individual Data Protection and Public Liberties, study registered under no 911290) and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

Consent to participate

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the VICAN study.

Consent for publication

Not applicable.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare no competing interests.

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Evans, C., Saliba-Serre, B., Préau, M. et al. Post-traumatic growth 5 years after cancer: identification of associated actionable factors. Support Care Cancer 30, 8261–8270 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-022-07253-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-022-07253-6

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