Does felt age reflect health‐related quality of life in cancer patients?

Abstract

Subjective age is related to health and to life satisfaction. The present study on post-surgical cancer patients addressed two questions: (1) Do people differ in their health-related quality of life (HRQOL) depending on their felt age? (2) Is change in felt age associated with change in HRQOL? Data were collected at one month (T1) and six months (T2) after surgery (N = 159; 58% men, aged 24-86 years). At both waves, less than 14% of the patients felt older than their chronological age. Patients who felt younger than their age and patients who felt as old as they were reported better HRQOL than those subjectively feeling older. Between T1 and T2, an increment of felt age was found in 29% and a decrement in 28% of cases. HRQOL improved also among those who subjectively aged and among those whose felt age did not change, but in fewer aspects and with substantially lower effect sizes than among those whose felt age decreased. HRQOL is a correlate of felt age. However, an increment in felt age does not imply a decrease of HRQOL.