Impact of COVID-19-related experiences on health-related quality of life in cancer survivors in the United States

Amy K. Otto, Sarah Prinsloo, Akina Natori, Richard W. Wagner, Telma I. Gomez, Jewel M. Ochoa, Shelley S. Tworoger, Cornelia M. Ulrich, Sairah Ahmed, Jennifer L. McQuade, Anita R. Peoples, Michael H. Antoni, Julienne E. Bower, Lorenzo Cohen, Frank J. Penedo

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Objective Little evidence exists on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on cancer survivors, limiting recommendations to improve health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in this population. We describe survivors’ pandemic experiences and examine associations between COVID-19related exposures, psychosocial experiences, and HRQoL. Methods Between May 2020-April 2021, survivors completed cross-sectional questionnaires capturing COVID-19-related exposures (e.g., exposure to virus, job loss); psychosocial experiences (i.e., COVID-19-related anxiety/depression, disruptions to health care and daily activities/social interactions, satisfaction with providers’ response to COVID, financial hardship, perceived benefits of the pandemic, social support, and perceived stress management ability); and HRQoL. Results Data were collected from N = 11,325 survivors in the United States. Participants were mostly female (58%), White (89%) and non-Hispanic (88%), and age 63 on average. Breast cancer was the most common diagnosis (23%). Eight percent of participants reported being exposed to COVID-19; 1% tested positive. About 6% of participants lost their jobs, while 24% lost household income. Nearly 30% avoided attending in-person oncology appointments because of the pandemic. Poorer HRQoL was associated with demographic (younger age; female; non-Hispanic White), clinical (Medicare; stage IV disease; hematologic/ digestive/respiratory system cancer), and psychosocial factors (low perceived benefits and stress management ability; more disruption to health care and daily activities/social interactions; financial hardship). Conclusions COVID-19-related stressors were associated with various psychosocial experiences in cancer survivors, and these psychosocial experiences were associated with HRQoL above and beyond demographic and clinical factors.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Article numbere0297077
JournalPloS one
Volume19
Issue number3 March
DOIs
StatePublished - Mar 2024
Externally publishedYes

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2024 Otto et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

PubMed: MeSH publication types

  • Journal Article

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Impact of COVID-19-related experiences on health-related quality of life in cancer survivors in the United States'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this