Psychological distress among adult cancer survivors: importance of survivorship care plan

Abstract

The goal of our study was to better understand the importance of adult cancer survivors (ACS) receiving Survivorship Care Plans (SCP) especially for their psychological well-being. We hypothesize that the receipt of SCP would decrease the likelihood of symptoms of current depression (SCD) in this population. We tested our hypothesis by using a representative sample of ACS, more than 1year from cancer diagnosis, who responded to the 2010 BRFSS survey. We used follow-up care instructions (FCI) and treatment summaries (TS) as a marker of SCP. Weighted multivariable logistic regression models were used to investigate the association between FCI and TS (individually and in combination) and SCD, among short-term (≤5years from cancer diagnosis) and long-term (>5years from cancer diagnosis) ACS. Out of 3191 final study participants, 32.8% were short-term, and 67.2% were long-term ACS. Among short-term ACS, the adjusted odds of SCD were 3 times higher (adjusted odds ratio (AOR) 3.14 [95%CI 1.29-7.65]) for those who did not receive TS+FCI than for those who received them both. Among long-term ACS, the adjusted odds of SCD were more than twice higher (AOR 2.18 [95%CI 1.14-4.19]) for those who received FCI and no TS compared to those who received them both. The present study results emphasize the importance of ACS receiving SCP. Adult cancer survivors may highly benefit from the receipt of SCP not only short-term but also long-term for their overall psychological well-being.