Supportive care needs and health-related quality of life among Chinese lung cancer survivors

Dorothy Ngo-Sheung Chan, Kai-Chow Choi, Carmen Wing-Han Chan, Rayman Wai-Man Wan, Suzanne So-Shan Mak, Eliza Mi-Ling Wong, Sek-Ying Chair, Winnie Kwok-Wei So

Department of Clinical Oncology, Prince of Wales Hospital, Hong Kong, China.
The Nethersole School of Nursing, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.

DOI: 10.4236/alc.2012.12002                

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to explore the supportive care needs and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) of lung cancer survivors, and to identify the association between patient characteristics, HRQoL and supportive care needs. Method: This was a sub-study of a larger scale survey of cancer survivors’ supportive care needs. A total of 48 lung cancer survivors were recruited from a regional teaching hospital, and a three-part structured questionnaire was used to collect 1) socio-demographic and clinical characteristics, 2) supportive care needs and 3) health-related quality of life data. Results: The three most commonly reported unmet needs were all in the health-system information domain: 1) being informed about your results as soon as possible (58%), 2) being informed about cancer which is under control or diminishing (50%), and 3) being informed about things you can do to help yourself get well (46%). The second most common unmet need domain was access to healthcare and ancillary support services. The survivors generally reported satisfactory HRQoL. However, household income and unmet physical and psychological needs were independently associated with HRQoL among these survivors. Conclusion: The high unmet needs in the health-system information area call for a review of the content and amount of information provided to lung cancer survivors. In addition, more attention should be given to lung cancer survivors with low incomes but high physical and psychological unmet needs, who require appropriate follow-up and long-term care of a physical, social and psychological kind.

Keywords

Supportive Care Needs; Health-Related Quality of Life; Lung Cancer Survivor

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

References

[1]	IARC (2010) Globocan 2008: Fast stats. http://globocan.iarc.fr/factsheets/populations/factsheet.asp?uno=900
[2]	Howlader, N., Noone, A.M., Krapcho, M., et al. (2009) SEER cancer statistics review 1975-2009. http://seer.cancer.gov/csr/1975_2009_pops09/
[3]	Cooley, M.E., Short, T.H. and Moriary, H.J. (2003) Symptom prevalence, distress, and change over time in adults receiving treatment for lung cancer. Psycho-Oncology, 12, 694-708. doi:10.1002/pon.694
[4]	Coups, E.J., Park, B.J., Feinstein, M.B., et al. (2009) Physical activity among lung cancer survivors: Changes across the cancer trajectory and associations with quality of life. Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers and Prevention, 18, 664-672. doi:10.1158/1055-9965.EPI-08-0589
[5]	Harrison, J.D., Young, J.M., Price, M.A., Butow, P.N. and Solomon, M.J. (2009) What are the unmet supportive care needs of people with cancer? A systematic review. Supportive Care in Cancer, 17, 1117-1128. doi:10.1007/s00520-009-0615-5
[6]	Yun, Y.H., Kim, Y.A., Min, Y.H., et al. (2012) Health- related quality of life in disease-free survivors of surgically treated lung cancer compared with the general po- pulation. Annals of Surgery, 255, 1000-1007. doi:10.1097/SLA.0b013e31824f1e9e
[7]	Li, J. and Girdis, A. (2006) Supportive care needs: Are patients with lung cancer a neglected population? Psycho-Oncology, 15, 509-516. doi:10.1002/pon.983
[8]	Liao, Y.-C., Liao, W.-Y., Shun, S.-C., et al. (2011) Symptoms, psychological distress, and supportive care needs in lung cancer patients. Supportive Care in Cancer, 19, 1743-1751. doi:10.1007/s00520-010-1014-7
[9]	Sanders, S.L., Bantum, E.O., Owen, J.E., et al. (2010) Supportive care needs in patients with lung cancer. Psycho-Oncology, 19, 480-489. doi:10.1002/pon.1577
[10]	Sarna, L., Cooley, M.E., Brown, J.K., et al. (2010) Women with lung cancer: Quality of life after thoracotomy: A 6-month prospective study. Cancer Nursing, 33, 85-92. doi:10.1097/NCC.0b013e3181be5e51
[11]	Yang, P., Cheville, A.L., Wampfler, J.A., et al. (2012) Quality of life and symptom burden among long-term lung cancer survivors. Journal of Thoracic Oncology, 7, 64-70. doi:10.1097/JTO.0b013e3182397b3e
[12]	Moller, A. and Sartipy, U. (2012) Predictors of postoperative quality of life after surgery for lung cancer. Journal of Thoracic Oncology, 7, 406-411. doi:10.1097/JTO.0b013e3182398e82
[13]	Le Corroller-Soriano, A.G., Bouhnk, A.-D., Preau, M., et al. (2011) Does cancer survivors’ health-related quality of life depend on cancer type? Findings from a large French national sample 2 years after cancer diagnosis. European Journal of Cancer Care, 20, 132-140. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2354.2009.01160.x
[14]	Hospital Authority: Hong Kong Cancer Registry (2012) Top ten cancers in 2009. http://www3.ha.org.hk/cancereg/e_stat.asp
[15]	So, W.K.W., Chan, C.W.H., Choi, K.C., Wan, R.W.M., Mak, S.S.S. and Chair, S.Y. (2012) Perceived unmet needs and health-related quality of life of Chinese cancer survivors at one year after treatment. Cancer Nursing, In Press.
[16]	So, W.K.W., Choi, K.C., Mak, S.S.S., et al. (2011) Validation of the Chinese version of supportive care needs survey and supplementary module of access to health care services. Supportive Care in Cancer, 19, S198.
[17]	Fitch, M.I. and Steele, R. (2010) Supportive care needs of individuals with lung cancer. Canadian Oncology Nursing Journal, 20, 15-22.
[18]	Wiljer, D., Walton, T., Gilbert, J., et al. (2012) Understanding the needs of lung cancer patients during the pre- diagnosis phase. Journal of Cancer Education, 27, 494- 500. doi:10.1007/s13187-012-0345-0
[19]	Syse, A., Tretli, S. and Kravdal, O. (2008) Cancer’s impact on employment and earnings—A population-based study from Norway. Journal of Cancer Survivorship, 2, 149-158. doi:10.1007/s11764-008-0053-2
[20]	Shi, Q., Smith, T.G., Michonski, J.D., et al. (2011) Symptom burden in cancer survivors 1 year after diagnosis. Cancer Survivorship, 117, 2779-2790.