We’re releasing abstracts from the #YACPrime presentations held at #IPOS2019; click here for more!
Objectives/Purpose: Young adults (YA) diagnosed with cancer will spend the majority of their lives in survivorship, making quality of life (QOL) an important consideration. The current study examined the QOL of a national cohort of YAs diagnosed with cancer between the ages of 15-39 compared to the Canadian population.
Methods: As part of the Young Adults with Cancer in their Prime (YAC Prime) study, 436 YAs (15.5 per cent male; median age = 34 years, range 20-64; median years from treatment completion = 2 years, range 0-47 years) completed the SF-12 as a measure of QOL. Data from YAs were compared to population data from the Canadian Community Health Survey 2010 (n = 2139, 46 per cent male).
Results: Univariate analyses of variance controlling for sex and age revealed a significant difference between YA survivors and the Canadian population on the physical component summary score (mean = 44.84 v. 49.71; F (1, 2268) = 144.61, P <.00, η2 = 0.06) and the mental health component summary score (mean = 38.67 v. 53.65; F (1,2268) = 635.99, p <.00, η2 = 0.22).
Conclusion and Clinical Implications: YA survivors of cancer, a median of two years from completion of their treatment report significantly worse quality of life compared to the Canadian population. Notably, survivors scored more than one standard deviation below the population mean with respect to their mental health. This study has important implications for the long-term follow-up on the mental well-being of YA survivors of cancer. Interventions to support these survivors are urgently needed.
