Psychosocial issues in post-treatment cancer survivors: Desire for support and challenges in identifying individuals in need

ABSTRACT

Purpose: The ongoing and late effects of cancer treatment can interfere with quality of life and adoption of healthy behaviors, thus potentially impairing recovery and survival. Developing effective methods to identify individuals in need of support is crucial in providing comprehensive, ongoing care and ensuring optimal use of limited resources. The current study provides an examination of long-term survivors’ reports of psychosocial issues, their desire for follow-up, and the role of widely used distress-screening measures for identifying survivors who desire help. Method: 317 cancer survivors (M age = 62.98 years, female = 70%, M_d years since treatment = 7.5 years, mixed diagnoses) completed measures of psychosocial adjustment and quality of life as well as a checklist of psychosocial issues on which they indicated whether they would like to speak with a health professional regarding each issue. Results: Participants reported an average of 1.7 psychosocial issues. Only a minority desired to speak to a health professional; however, those desiring follow-up reported significant impairments in adjustment and quality of life. Though far from adequate as a stand-alone measure, area under the curve and regression analysis suggested a combination of the distress thermometer and number of psychosocial issues may be the best assessment of those desiring follow-up assistance. Conclusion: These results indicate that there is a need for a more sophisticated system of assisting survivors that takes into account issues, symptoms, and motivation for help. The present study is important in guiding the development of effective survivorship care and contributing to the growing literature describing the adjustment and care needs of survivors.

KEYWORDS:

• psychosocial distress
• cancer survivorship
• supportive care

Funding

Support for this research was provided by a grant from the National Institute of Mental Health (F31MH086977, Philip) and National Cancer Institute (T32CA009461, Philip; CA94914, Merluzzi).