Childhood cancer survivors face ‘numerous socioeconomic challenges’
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts
Key takeaways:
- Childhood cancer survivors less likely completed higher levels of education, got married or had children.
- Researchers noted the need for lifelong survivorship support with a focus on social reintegration.
The future of pediatric oncology should place a special emphasis on addressing socioeconomic difficulties that childhood cancer survivors face, according to study data published in JAMA Pediatrics.
Researchers found childhood cancer survivors had higher odds of health-related unemployment, in addition to being less likely to complete higher levels of education, get married or become parents compared with a group of population-based control subjects.
“The study reveals that childhood cancer survivors encounter numerous socioeconomic challenges,” Márk Viktor Hernádfői, MD, a PhD student at Semmelweis University and resident at MRE Bethesda Children’s Hospital in Budapest, Hungary, told Healio.
“Consequently, the forthcoming objective in pediatric oncology should focus on mitigating these adverse effects and offering ongoing support for survivorship,” he added. “The aim is to enhance social reintegration and ensure that survivors can lead fulfilling lives. This approach will not only address immediate health concerns but also facilitate long-term well-being and social participation.”
Background, methods
Thanks to advancements in pediatric oncology, the population of childhood cancer survivors has continued to grow in recent years. There is limited concrete data available on the psychosocial reintegration of childhood cancer survivors, so researchers conducted a comprehensive review and analysis of the socioeconomic attainment of childhood cancer survivors compared with population-based controls.
Researchers used data from a comprehensive search of MEDLINE, Embase and CENTRAL databases from Oct. 23, 2021, to July 31, 2023. Eligible articles included information regarding educational attainment, employment, family formation, quality of life and/or health-risk behavior-related outcomes of childhood cancer survivors.
The search identified 43,913 articles, 280 of which researchers deemed useable for analysis, including data on 389,502 survivors. Outcome measurements were reported via odds ratios and mean differences.
Results
Childhood cancer survivors are less likely to complete higher levels of education (OR = 0.69; 95% CI, 0.4-1.18).
According to researchers, childhood cancer survivors also have higher odds of health-related unemployment (OR = 2.94; 95% CI, 1.9-4.57), and showed lower rates of marriage (OR = 0.72; 95% CI, 0.63-0.84) and parenthood (OR = 0.6; 95% CI, 0.49-0.74) compared with population-based controls.
Potential study limitations include its focus on socioeconomic and psychological outcomes, which lack a standardized and thorough reporting process on the long-term effects of childhood cancer, according to researchers. Additionally, analyzing a limited portion of adulthood for these survivors could have the data reflecting time-dependent outcomes.
Next steps
The results show that childhood cancer survivors face rather significant long-term socioeconomic challenges upon reintegrating after receiving treatment, most specifically including educational, employment and family challenges, compared with peers who did not have cancer.
According to researchers, an analysis of current processes to follow childhood cancer survivors’ post-treatment could help understand potential reasons for the disparity between survivors and controls.
“An intriguing question would be to evaluate the current initiatives and follow-up programs to assess their effectiveness in facilitating successful social reintegration for survivors,” Hernádfői told Healio. “Moreover, given the retrospective nature of our study, it's important to periodically revisit this question to ensure relevance and efficacy. Additionally, we should proactively consider future strategies and improvements to enhance these interventions over time.”
For more information:
Márk Viktor Hernádfői, MD, can be reached at hernadfoi.mark.viktor@semmelweis.hu.
Collapse
Read more about
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts