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Exploring household income as a predictor of psychological well-being among long-term colorectal cancer survivors

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this analysis was to determine the unique contribution of household income to the variance explained in psychological well-being (PWB) among a sample of colorectal cancer (CRC) survivors.

Methods

This study is a secondary analysis of data collected as part of the Health-Related Quality of Life in Long-Term Colorectal Cancer Survivors Study, which included CRC survivors with (cases) and without (controls) ostomies. The dataset included socio-demographic, health status, and health-related quality of life (HRQOL) information. HRQOL was assessed with the modified City of Hope Quality of Life (mCOH-QOL)-Ostomy questionnaire and SF-36v2. To assess the relationship between income and PWB, a hierarchical linear regression model was constructed combining data from both cases and controls.

Results

After accounting for the proportion of variance in PWB explained by the other independent variables in the model, the additional variance explained by income was significant (R 2 increased from 0.228 to 0.250; P = 0.006).

Conclusions

Although the study design does not allow causal inference, these results demonstrate a significant relationship between income and PWB in CRC survivors. The findings suggest that for non-randomized group comparisons of HRQOL, income should, at the very least, be included as a control variable in the analysis.

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Abbreviations

CRC:

Colorectal cancer

SES:

Socioeconomic status

mCOH-QOL-Ostomy:

Modified City of Hope Quality of Life-Ostomy questionnaire

HRQOL:

Health-related quality of life

PCS:

SF-36 physical component summary scale

MCS:

SF-36 mental component summary scale

PWB:

Psychological well-being

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Acknowledgments

The data used for this research were collected as part of a study conducted by the Southern Arizona Veterans Affairs Health Care System (SAVAHCS)/Kaiser Permanente Collaborative Research Group, which was made possible by grant no. R01 CA106912 from the National Cancer Institute in collaboration with resources and the use of facilities provided at the Southern Arizona Veterans Affairs Health Care System, Tucson, Arizona. Additional support was provided through the Arizona Cancer Center Support Grant CA023074 and by the College of Pharmacy at the University of Arizona. The views expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of Kaiser Permanente, the Department of Veterans Affairs, or the University of Arizona.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Pharmacy, University of Arizona, P.O. Box 210202, Tucson, AZ, 85721-0202, USA

    J. Jason Lundy & Stephen Joel Coons

  2. Southern Arizona Veterans Affairs Health Care System, 3601 S. 6th St., Tucson, AZ, 85773, USA

    Christopher Wendel & Robert S. Krouse

  3. Kaiser Permanente Northwest, 3800 North Interstate Ave, Portland, OR, 97227, USA

    Mark C. Hornbrook

  4. Kaiser Permanente Northern California, 2000 Broadway, Oakland, CA, 94612, USA

    Lisa Herrinton

  5. City of Hope National Medical Center, 1500 E. Duarte Rd., Duarte, CA, 91010, USA

    Marcia Grant

Authors
  1. J. Jason Lundy
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  2. Stephen Joel Coons
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  3. Christopher Wendel
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  4. Mark C. Hornbrook
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  5. Lisa Herrinton
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  6. Marcia Grant
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  7. Robert S. Krouse
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Correspondence to J. Jason Lundy.

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Lundy, J.J., Coons, S.J., Wendel, C. et al. Exploring household income as a predictor of psychological well-being among long-term colorectal cancer survivors. Qual Life Res 18, 157–161 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11136-008-9432-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11136-008-9432-4

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