Abstract
Background and AimCancer survivors are gradually increasing, however, they suffer from various difficulties. We aimed to investigate the characteristics of cancer survivors and the effects of the services of the Korean Cancer Survivorship Center Pilot Project launched by the South Korean government on distress.MethodsA prospective observational cohort study was performed on cancer survivors who completed primary treatment. Cancer survivors' distress and symptoms such as fatigue, pain, depressive mood, anxiety, and insomnia were evaluated by well-trained nurses. Regarding their needs, medical and psychosocial support services were provided.ResultsThis study included 1,921 cancer survivors, with a mean age of 57.3 years (68.7% females). Breast cancer was most common, followed by stomach and colorectal cancer. Psychosocial and medical support decreased the percentage of the high-distress group from 50.9 to 30.5% and decreased the percentage of cancer survivors with high scores in fatigue, pain, anxiety, depressive mood, and insomnia. The independent predictors of a low distress level after the use of the services were older age, the relief of fatigue, pain, and insomnia.ConclusionThis study showed that psychosocial and medical support is associated with the lower distress and physical and mental symptoms of cancer survivors. Psychosocial and medical support could contribute to distress relief in cancer survivors. Further management strategies for fatigue, pain and insomnia are required.
Highlights
The numbers of cancer survivors are gradually increasing owing to advances in screening and treatment strategies
We investigated characteristics of cancer survivors visiting cancer survivorship centers (CSCs) and the associations of the Korean Cancer Survivorship Center Pilot Program with survivors’ distress and distress-related symptoms including pain, fatigue, anxiety, depressive mood, and insomnia
Cancer survivors were grouped by their distress thermometer (DT) scores; 49.1% had low distress (DT score < 4) and 50.9% had high distress (DT score ≥ 4)
Summary
The numbers of cancer survivors are gradually increasing owing to advances in screening and treatment strategies. This has resulted in a growing interest in the quality of life (QOL) of cancer survivors. They still suffer from various difficulties including long-term treatment effects, late-effects of treatment, distress, anxiety, uncertainty, fatigue, secondary malignancy, and other medical illness [1,2,3,4,5,6]. Because distress is caused by physical, psychological, and social problems, psychosocial and medical support should be included in cancer care [11]. We aimed to investigate the characteristics of cancer survivors and the effects of the services of the Korean Cancer Survivorship Center Pilot Project launched by the South Korean government on distress
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