Majority of cancer survivors report unmet needs in first year after treatment

the Oncology Nurse Advisor take:

The majority of cancer survivors report one or more unmet needs in the first year after primary treatment, according to a new study published online ahead of print in the journal Psycho-oncology.

For the study, researchers enrolled 255 cancer survivors who were treated at one of eight Dutch hospitals between November 2012 and January 2013. All participants were surveyed about unmet needs, demographics, disease-related characteristics, and psychosocial characteristics.

Results showed that 63% of respondents reported one or more unmet needs. The most common unmet needs reported dealt with emotional support, smoking cessation, side effect/complication management, worries over recurrence, cancer care, social support, up-to-date information, and completing work.

Researchers found that age, higher education, support program participation, anxiety, depression, and negative adjustment style were associated with more unmet needs. On the other hand, female gender, time since last treatment, and quality of life correlated with fewer unmet needs.