Layoung Park, Seungyup Jun, Jung Ah Lee
Department of Family Medicine, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea
Background: New and more effective treatments for cancer
have resulted in individuals living longer with a better quality
of life. Thus, the Quality of life (QoL) is now a major concern
of cancer survivors. This study tried to
identify the factors affecting the quality of life among cancer
survivors.
Methods: Data was collected from the sixth (2013-2015)
National Health and Nutrition Survey. Among total
16,522 participants aged 19 years old or more, 721 cancer
survivors who had any previous history of cancer
were included in the analysis. QoL was measured using
EuroQoL-5D which evaluated 5 domains including the
problem of mobility, self-care, usual activity, pain, and
anxiety.
Results: Cancer survivors had lower QoL than the general
population and participants with other chronic
disease. Among cancer survivors, age had the strongest
association with mobility. The problem of self-care
was affected by age, female, income state, and
comorbidity. More income had an impact on better self-
care.
The problem of usual activity was affected by job state,
stress and comorbidity. There was a positive association
between job status and the problem of usual activity. The
problem of pain was related with female, education state,
and stress. Higher education was associated with lower
problem of pain. The problem of anxiety was
in relation with age, female, and stress.
Conclusions: To improve the QoL of cancer survivors, the
appropriate intervention is needed for effective
management considering the different factors which affect
the QoL of the cancer survivors.
Korean J Health Promot 2018;18(1):7-14
Keywords: Cancer survivors, Quality of life, Income,
Educational status, Comorbidity
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