Impact of sociodemographic factors, stress, and communication on health-related quality of life in survivors of pediatric cancer

Valdeoso Patterson; Anna Olsavsky; Dana Garcia; Malcolm Sutherland-Foggio; Kathryn Vannatta; Kemar V Prussien; Heather Bemis; Bruce E Compas; Cynthia A Gerhardt

doi:10.1002/pbc.31001

Impact of sociodemographic factors, stress, and communication on health-related quality of life in survivors of pediatric cancer

Pediatr Blood Cancer. 2024 Apr 21:e31001. doi: 10.1002/pbc.31001. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Valdeoso Patterson^{1

2}, Anna Olsavsky¹, Dana Garcia¹, Malcolm Sutherland-Foggio¹, Kathryn Vannatta^{1

2}, Kemar V Prussien^{3

4}, Heather Bemis^{3

5}, Bruce E Compas³, Cynthia A Gerhardt^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ The Research Institute at Nationwide Children's Hospital, Columbus, Ohio, USA.
² The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, USA.
³ Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, USA.
⁴ Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.
⁵ Children's Hospital Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, USA.

PMID: 38644596
DOI: 10.1002/pbc.31001

Abstract

Background: While most research has largely focused on medical risks associated with reduced health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in survivors, sociodemographic and family factors may also play a role. Thus, we longitudinally examined sociodemographic factors and family factors associated with survivor HRQOL, including adolescent's cancer-specific stress, mother's general stress, and mother-adolescent communication.

Methods: Mothers (N = 80) and survivors (ages 10-23, N = 50) were assessed 5 years following initial diagnosis. Mothers completed measures regarding sociodemographic background adolescent's cancer-specific stress, mother's general stress, mother-adolescent communication, and adolescent HRQOL. Survivors also reported on their own HRQOL. Two hierarchical multiple regressions examined predictors of (a) mother's report of adolescent HRQOL, and (b) survivor's self-report of HRQOL.

Results: The final model predicting mother-reported adolescent HRQOL was significant, F(5,74) = 21.18, p < .001, and explained 59% of the variance in HRQoL. Significant predictors included adolescent stress (β = -.37, p < .001), mothers' stress (β = -.42, p < .001), and communication (β = .19, p = .03). The final model predicting survivor-reported HRQOL was also significant, F(5,44) = 5.16, p < .01 and explained 24% of the variance in HRQOL. Significant predictors included adolescent stress (β = -.37, p = .01) and communication (β = -.31, p = .04). Sociodemographic factors were not a significant predictor of HRQOL in any model.

Conclusion: Family stress and communication offer potential points of intervention to improve HRQOL of pediatric cancer survivors from mother and survivor perspectives. While additional research is needed, healthcare professionals should encourage stress management and strong mother-child communication to enhance survivors' long-term HRQOL. Such interventions may be complimentary to efforts targeting the known sociodemographic factors that often affect health.

Keywords: cancer survivorship; communication; family stress; health‐related quality of life; sociodemographic risk.

Abstract

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