Young adult cancer survivors' psychosocial well-being: a cross-sectional study assessing quality of life, unmet needs, and health behaviors

Purpose: This study compared the unmet needs, quality of life, and health behaviors (smoking, alcohol, and physical activity) of young adult cancer survivors to their older counterparts and age-related peers. Methods: We conducted a subset analysis of the Cancer Survival Study baseline data collected from participants surveyed at approximately 6–7 months post-diagnosis. All 58 young adults aged 18–40 years at the time of first primary cancer diagnosis and participating in the study were included. Their responses to the self-administered SCNS-SF34, EORTC QLQ-C30, and standard items assessing smoking, alcohol consumption, and physical activity were compared to a random sample (n=58) of gender and cancer-type matched older adults (64+ years) participating in the same study. Young adult survivors' health behaviors were also compared to previously published data for age-related peers from the Australian general population. Results: Young adult cancer survivors reported significantly lower levels of social functioning; higher levels of financial difficulties, sexuality needs, health systems and information needs; and better physical functioning than their older counterparts. A significantly higher percentage of young cancer survivors were current smokers compared to older survivors (16.1% vs. 3.7%, p=0.03), but is lower than that reported by age-related peers (24.8%). Compared to young cancer survivors (27.3%), significantly fewer older cancer survivors (8.3%, p=0.046) and more age-related peers (53.6%) engaged in sufficient levels of physical activity. Conclusions: The impact of cancer on young adults seems to be specific. Future research should verify the unique concerns of young adult cancer survivors in large and diverse samples.