Title : Social Emotional Support and Health Related Quality of Life in US Cancer Survivors
Abstract:
Objective: Individuals with a history of cancer diagnosis (cancer survivor) are likely to experience poor health-related quality of life (HRQoL). The aim of this study was to examine the cross-sectional association between perceived social-emotional support and HRQoL in a nationally representative sample of US cancer survivors.
Methods: Pooled data from the 2016 and 2017 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance Survey were analyzed among 4,360 cancer survivors representing 1,258,828 US cancer survivors. HRQoL was assessed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s four core Healthy Days measures (i.e., self-related general health, activity limitation days, poor mental and physical, health days). Multivariate logistic regressions were used to examine independent associations between perceived social-emotional support and each of the four HRQoL measures, adjusting for age, sex, race/ethnicity, marital status, education, employment status and Body Mass Index.
Results: Of the 4,360, an estimated 8.38% reported that they rarely/never received social-emotional support. Regarding HRQoL measures, 32.50% self-reported fair/poor general health, 13.91% and 24.97% reported frequent days of poor mental health and poor physical health respectively, whereas 43.88% reported frequent activity limitation days. Relative to those who reported that they always received social-emotional support, those who reported that they rarely received social-emotional support were more likely to report frequent days of poor mental health (AOR = 3.68, 95%CI: 1.98–6.83) and activity limitations (AOR = 2.05, 95%CI: 1.24–3.39). Likewise, relative to those who reported that they always received social-emotional support, those who reported that they sometimes received social-emotional support, were more likely to report frequent days of poor mental health (AOR = 3.57, 95%CI: 2.34–5.44) and activity limitations (AOR = 1.46, 95%CI: 1.12–1.91). Although the odds of reporting fair/poor general health and poor physical health were greater for those who reported that they rarely/never- and those who reported that they sometimes received social-emotional support than those who reported that they always received social-emotional support, these differences were not statistically significant.
Conclusion: Among cancer survivors in this study, lower social-emotional support is associated with poor HRQoL, particularly with frequent days of poor mental health and activity limitations.
