Psychological well-being and social support in chronic myeloid leukemia patients receiving lifelong targeted therapies.

Abstract

The main objective of this study was to investigate whether social support is independently associated with psychological well-being in chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) patients. Secondary objectives were to compare the psychological well-being profile of CML patients with that of their peers in general population and to examine possible age- and sex-related differences. Analysis was performed on 417 patients in treatment with lifelong molecularly targeted therapies. Mean age of patients analyzed was 56 years (range 19-87years) and 247 (59%) were male and 170 (41%) were female. Social support was assessed with the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support and psychological well-being was evaluated with the short version of the Psychological General Well-Being Index. Descriptive statistics and multivariate logistic regression analyses were used. Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that a greater social support was independently associated with lower anxiety and depression, as well as with higher positive well-being, self-control, and vitality (p<0.001). Female patients reported statistically significant worse outcomes in all dimensions of psychological well-being. Age- and sex-adjusted comparisons with population norms revealed that depression (ES=-0.42, p<0.001) and self-control (ES=-0.48, p<0.001) were the two main impaired psychological dimensions. This study indicates that social support is a critical factor associated with psychological well-being of CML patients treated with modern lifelong targeted therapies.