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Distress among young adult cancer survivors: a cohort study

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Abstract

Purpose

Being diagnosed with cancer as a young adult can lead to significant psychological distress and impaired quality of life. Compared to children and older adults diagnosed with cancer, fewer studies have addressed psychological distress among young adult cancer survivors. This study sought to identify the prevalence of, and factors associated with, distress among young adult cancer survivors (ages 18–39).

Methods

Young adult cancer survivors (N = 335, mean age = 31.8, women = 68.4 %) were recruited from an online research panel and stratified by cohort (time postactive treatment: 0–12, 13–24, and 25–60 months). Participants completed measures assessing demographic and clinical characteristics, global impact of cancer, cancer-related education and work interruption, and cancer-specific distress using the impact of event scale (IES).

Results

The mean score on the IES (M = 31.0, range = 0–75) was above the cut point of 20, suggesting clinically elevated distress. Analysis of covariance revealed significant main effects for cohort, global impact and cancer-related education/work interruption, and an interaction between cohort and cancer-related education/work interruption on distress. Although there was no significant effect of education/work interruption on distress for those in the 0–12 month cohort (p = .88), survivors in the 13–24 and 25–60 month cohorts reporting education/work interruption were significantly more distressed than those not reporting education/work interruption in the respective cohorts (p < .05).

Conclusions

Young adult cancer survivors face unique challenges. These data underscore the importance of attending to cancer-related distress beyond the completion of treatment and may help inform targeted interventions to prevent or reduce significant distress and related sequelae in this population.

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Notes

  1. Based on reviewer suggestions to explore gender differences among young adult cancer survivors, we conducted an ANCOVA to determine whether gender interacted with cancer-related education/work interruption or cohort after adjusting for all other relevant covariates. There were no significant interaction effects for gender and cancer-related education/work interruption on distress or gender and cohort on distress (p values = .91 and .34).

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Acknowledgments

The contents of this work were developed under a training grant from the Department of Education, NIDRR grant (H133P080006). This work was also supported by a Psychosocial and Behavioral Research Grant (PSB-08-15) funded by the American Cancer Society-Illinois Division and by a career development award (51K07CA158008-01A1) funded by the National Cancer Institute.

Disclosures

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Healthcare Studies, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, 750 N. Lake Shore Drive, 10th floor, Chicago, IL, 60611, USA

    Betina Yanez

  2. Department of Medical Social Sciences, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, 60611, USA

    Betina Yanez, Sofia F. Garcia, David Victorson & John M. Salsman

  3. Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, 60611, USA

    Sofia F. Garcia, David Victorson & John M. Salsman

  4. Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, 60611, USA

    Sofia F. Garcia

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  1. Betina Yanez
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  2. Sofia F. Garcia
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  3. David Victorson
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  4. John M. Salsman
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Correspondence to Betina Yanez.

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Yanez, B., Garcia, S.F., Victorson, D. et al. Distress among young adult cancer survivors: a cohort study. Support Care Cancer 21, 2403–2408 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-013-1793-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-013-1793-8

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