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AYA cancer survivors at increased risk for chronic conditions, health problems
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Adolescents and young adults who survive cancer reported significantly worse chronic medical conditions, unhealthy behaviors and barriers to health care, according to the results of a recent study.
“AYA cancer survivors are at risk for late effects from treatment, cancer recurrences and second malignancies as a result of their cancer and its treatment,” the researchers wrote.
As such, it is important to fully understand the characteristics, risk behaviors and health status of this group of patients.
In the study, researchers used the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System to identify 4,054 adolescent and young adult (AYA) cancer survivors and 345,592 participants with no history of cancer.
All participants were asked about their risk behaviors, chronic conditions, health status and health care access. Participants with cancer had a significantly younger median age of 40 years. The most commonly occurring cancers were cervical cancer (38%), other female reproductive cancers (13%) and melanoma (9%).
A significantly higher portion of cancer survivors reported being unable to work or out of work compared with non-cancer survivors (24% vs. 14%), according to study results. In addition, survivors more frequently reported poor overall mental health status (20% vs. 10%) and physical health (24% vs. 10%).
Adolescent and young adult cancer survivors also reported higher prevalence of chronic health conditions such as obesity, cardiovascular disease, hypertension, asthma and disability.
“Although guidelines for long-term follow-up aim to prevent and minimize poor outcomes, increasing adherence to these guidelines and implementing evidence-based interventions to promote healthy behaviors and reduce adverse risk behaviors are needed to improve the health of AYA cancer survivors,” the researchers wrote.