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Health-Related Quality of Life Among Cancer Survivors Attending Support Groups

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Abstract

There is limited research on the relationship between Health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and socioeconomic status (SES) among long-term cancer survivors. The goal of this study was to assess Global HRQoL among 102 adult cancer survivors attending support groups in San Diego County and to examine differences by SES and acculturation. Community-based participatory research methods were followed to recruit a purposive sample of English and Spanish-speaking adult cancer survivors attending cancer support groups. Self-report questionnaires assessing age, acculturation (i.e., language), SES (i.e., income and education), cancer history, and Global HRQoL measured by the FACT-G were administered. Multivariate regression examined the relationship between SES and acculturation with HRQoL, adjusting for covariates. Participants were 58.8 years on average (SD = 10.06) and varied in terms of SES. Most participants (91.5 %) were women, 51.7 % were non-Hispanic white, and 48.3 % were Hispanic/Latino. Global HRQoL scores in the study sample were lower compared to previously reported studies. After adjusting for covariates, SES and acculturation were not significantly related to HRQoL. Stage at diagnosis was significantly related to HRQoL measures in adjusted analyses. HRQoL did not vary by SES or acculturation. There is a need to increase access to linguistically and culturally appropriate cancer care and supportive care services. Future studies may find existing support group settings useful for targeting psychosocial issues for more advanced stage cancer survivors.

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Acknowledgments

This research was made possible by grants from Redes En Acción: The National Latino Cancer Research Network. This research was supported by a National Cancer Institute (NCI) Center to Reduce Cancer Health Disparities grant awarded to the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio Health (Ramirez, PI) with a subcontract to San Diego State University (SDSU) (Talavera, Subcontract PI) (U01 CA114657-05 and U54 CA153511) and a grant from the California Breast Cancer Research Program awarded to SDSU (Castañeda, PI) (18AB-1100), and two National Institute for Minority Health and Health Disparities grants awarded to SDSU (R25MD006853-01, Elder, PI and Talavera, Co-PI; P20 MD002293-01, Talavera, PI). Its contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the NIH or CBCRP. The authors thank the Redes en Acción Community Advisory Board, the Cancer Care Access Partnership (C-CAP) Coalition, and all members of the Redes research team. Special thanks go to all of the cancer support group members who made this research possible.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Behavioral and Community Health, Graduate School of Public Health, San Diego State University, 9245 Sky Park Ct. St. 110, San Diego, CA, 92123, USA

    Elizabeth A. Medeiros, Sheila F. Castañeda, Patricia Gonzalez, Bárbara Rodríguez, Christina Buelna & Gregory A. Talavera

  2. California Division, American Cancer Society, 2655 Camino del Rio North, Suite 100, San Diego, CA, 92108, USA

    Demy West

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  1. Elizabeth A. Medeiros
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  2. Sheila F. Castañeda
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  3. Patricia Gonzalez
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  4. Bárbara Rodríguez
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  5. Christina Buelna
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  7. Gregory A. Talavera
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Correspondence to Elizabeth A. Medeiros.

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Medeiros, E.A., Castañeda, S.F., Gonzalez, P. et al. Health-Related Quality of Life Among Cancer Survivors Attending Support Groups. J Canc Educ 30, 421–427 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13187-014-0697-8

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