Predictors of fear of recurrence in patients one year after cancer rehabilitation: A prospective study

Figures & data

Figure 1. Enrollment of patients (t₁ = beginning of cancer rehabilitation, t₂ = end of cancer rehabilitation, t₃ = 12 months after cancer rehabilitation).

Table I. Demographic and medical sample characteristics at the beginning of the cancer rehabilitation (t₁) (N = 883).

	Total sample		FCR
	n	%	M	SD	p	η^2
Demographic characteristics
Age, mean (SD)	48.6 (7.1)
Gender					< 0.001	0.02
Female	772	87.4	35.4	8.6
Male	111	12.6	32.2	9.0
Marital status					< 0.001	0.02
Married	614	69.5	35.1	8. 4
Single	128	14.5	32.5	8. 2
Divorced	119	13.5	36.7	10.4
Widowed	22	2.5	39.7	7.7
Partnership					0.26	–
Yes	684	77.5	34.9	8.5
No	199	22.5	35.7	9.6
Social class					0.007	0.01
Low social class	292	33.1	35.8	9.1
Middle social class	480	54.4	35.1	8.6
High social class	111	12.6	32.8	8.0
Medical characteristics
Cancer entity					< 0.001	0.03
Breast cancer	536	60.7	35.6	8.5
Gynecological cancers	127	14.4	35.1	8.7
Head and neck cancers	72	8.2	33.0	9.7
Skin cancer	55	6.2	35.8	8.8
Colon/rectum cancer	43	4.9	31.3	8.6
Lung cancer	29	3.3	37.5	8.4
Hematological neoplasias	21	2.4	28.8	7.7
Months since diagnosis (mean. SD)	11.1 (8.4)
Cancer stage (UICC)*					0.60	–
In situ	10	1.1	38.2	9.7
I	359	40.7	35.0	8.7
II	308	34.9	35.6	8.3
III	143	16.2	34.8	8.7
IV	42	4.8	34.4	11. 1
Clinical characteristics					0.30	–
First primary tumor	838	94.9	35.0	8.8
Second primary tumor	45	5.1	36.3	8.5
Disease phase					0.02	0.006
Remission	764	86.5	34.8	8.7
Recurrence/progress/metastasis	119	13.5	36.8	9.1
Treatment phase					0.01	0.007
Curative treatment intention	810	91.7	34.9	8.6
Palliative treatment intention	47	5.3	38.2	10.1
Unclear	26	2.9
Total no. of therapies (mean. SD)**	2.7 (1.1)

*Without hematological neoplasias, **surgery, radiation therapy, chemotherapy and/or hormonal treatment.

Figure 2. Course of fear of recurrence over time.

Table II. Hierarchical linear regression analysis of fear of recurrence at follow-up (t₃) (N = 883).

	Fear of recurrence (t3)
	r	β	SE	Standardized β	P	R² (corr)
Predictors (t1)
Demographic factors (Step 1)						0.02
Gender^†	20.09**	22.02	0.90	20.08	0.03
Social class	20.12**	21.57	0.46	20.11	0.001
Medical factors (Step 2)						0.28
Cancer entity^‡
Skin cancer	20.08*	22.40	1.12	20.07	0.03
Colon/rectum cancer	20.08*	22.06	1.28	20.05	0.11
Hematological cancers	20.09**	23.33	1.76	20.06	0.06
Disease phase^§	0.07*	0.58	1.12	0.02	0.60
Treatment intention^||	0.09**	2.42	1.55	0.06	0.12
Karnofsky performance index	20.13***	20.04	0.04	20.04	0.23
No. of physical problems	0.34***	0.75	0.06	0.42	< 0.001
Pain	0.38***	0.48	0.12	0.13	< 0.001
Psychosocial factors (Step 3)						.34
Distress	0.40***	0.18	0.12	0.05	0.160
Depression	0.54***	0.50	0.08	0.23	< 0.001
Social support	20.16***	1.38	0.38	0.12	< 0.001
Detrimental interactions	0.37***	1.80	0.46	0.13	< 0.001

^†1, female; 2, male; ^‡0, No; 1, Yes; ^§0, remission; 1, progress; ^||0, curative treatment intention; 1, palliative treatment intention.