Unique influences of pain frequency and pain-related worry on health-related quality of life in survivors of childhood cancer

Abstract

Pain is common during childhood cancer treatment, can persist into survivorship, and is under-managed in young survivors of childhood cancer (SCCs). Pain may influence health-related quality of life in SCCs simply via its frequency, and/or by triggering worries about cancer recurrence. The purpose of this study was to explore proximal associations between pain frequency, pain-related worry, and health-related quality of life in SCCs. In this study, 111 SCCs (52% female, Mage: 17.67 years, range 8-25 years) were recruited from a Canadian Children's Hospital and completed self-report measures of pain frequency, pain-related worry, and health-related quality of life. Descriptive statistics, bivariate correlations, chi-square analyses and a hierarchical linear regression were performed. Pain was frequently experienced in SCCs (70% reported pain in previous month) and was commonly worried about as a sign of cancer recurrence (39% of sample endorsed some degree of worry). Those who endorsed worrying about pain were 95% more likely to endorse experiencing that symptom over the previous month, X2(1, N = 110) = 21.13, p