Association Between Time Since Cancer Diagnosis and Health-Related Quality of Life: A Population-Level Analysis

Objectives: To examine the association between time since cancer diagnosis and health-related quality of life (HRQOL) among cancer survivors in remission.

Methods: Analyzing data from 3,610 cancer survivors and 59,539 individuals without cancer in the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey, we examined the relationship between time since cancer diagnosis and HRQOL, taking remission status into account and controlling for patients' demographic characteristics and comorbidities. HRQOL measurements included the six-dimensional health state short form (derived from 36-item short form health survey) (SF-6D) utility scores, the physical component summary score, and the mental component summary score.

Results: The relationship between time since cancer diagnosis and HRQOL varied substantially across cancer types. Compared with individuals without cancer, survivors of breast, prostate, or poor-prognosis cancer had statistically lower SF-6D scores within 2 years of diagnosis (-0.044, -0.062, and -0.088, respectively). Breast cancer survivors had SF-6D scores similar to those of individuals without cancer after 2 years, as did patients with poor-prognosis cancer after 5 years. Nevertheless, even after a period of 10 years, survivors of prostate or cervical cancer had a lower level of SF-6D scores (-0.027 and -0.042, respectively). The comparisons of physical health between cancer survivors and individuals without cancer were similar to those of SF-6D. In contrast, most cancer survivors did not experience poorer mental health; survivors of prostate or cervical cancer, however, had lower mental component summary scores after 10 years of diagnosis.

Conclusions: The level of HRQOL among cancer survivors depends on time since cancer diagnosis and cancer type. Some cancer survivors have lower HRQOL after a decade of diagnosis, even in remission.