ASPO Abstracts
Characterizing the cumulative impacts of comorbidities and treatment-related symptoms on quality of life among rural cancer survivors
Category: Survivorship & Health Outcomes/Comparative Effectiveness Research
Conference Year: 2019
Abstract Body:
Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine how comorbidities and treatment-related cancer symptoms are associated with the following four quality of life (QOL) domains among rural cancer survivors: physical health, mental health, social well-being, and functional well-being.Methods: The study sample was obtained from the Illinois Cancer Assessment Study. Study participants were recruited during January 2017-February 2018 (wave 1) and March 2018-September 2018 (wave 2). Eligible participants were then provided with a survey, which took approximately 60-90 minutes to complete. All survey data were analyzed using the quantitative statistical software program, SPSS. Results: A greater number of comorbidities and treatment-related cancer symptoms was associated with worse mental health, social well-being, and functional well-being, but not physical health. Sensitivity analyses suggested that psychological comorbidities, treatment-related psychological symptoms, and physical comorbidities were all associated with these three QOL domains. Conclusions: A higher number of both comorbidities and treatment-related cancer symptoms was associated with reduced QOL among rural cancer survivors. Implementing health promotion programs that focus specifically on treating both the number of comorbidities and the treatment-related symptoms among rural cancer survivors may be an effective strategy in improving the QOL within this population. The implementation of such a program may also be a beneficial strategy for reducing quality of life disparities among rural cancer survivors as well.
Keywords: rural cancer survivorship, comorbidities