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Socioeconomic differences in health-related quality of life among cancer survivors and comparison with a cancer-free population: a PROFILES study

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Abstract

Purpose

This study investigates the association between socioeconomic position (SEP) and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in a cross-sectional cohort among cancer survivors and compares with cancer-free people.

Methods

Survivors of colorectal, hematological, gynecological, prostate, thyroid cancer, and melanoma diagnosed 2000–2014 were identified in the PROFILES registry, and an age- and sex-matched cancer-free population were identified in the CentER panel. HRQoL, education, and comorbidity were self-reported. Street-level income and clinical factors were obtained from Statistics Netherlands and the Netherlands Cancer Registry. Multivariable logistic regression was used to examine associations of SEP (measured by education and income) and impaired HRQoL among cancer survivors and the cancer-free population, adjusting for age, sex, and time since diagnosis.

Results

We included 6693 cancer survivors and 565 cancer-free people. Cancer survivors with low versus medium SEP more frequently reported impaired HRQoL (odds ratio (OR) range for all HRQoL outcomes, 1.06–1.78 for short education and 0.94–1.56 for low income). Survivors with high compared to medium SEP reported impaired HRQoL less frequently (OR range for all HRQoL outcomes, 0.46–0.81 for short education and 0.60–0.84 for low income). The association between SEP and HRQoL was similar in the matched cancer-free population.

Conclusion

Low SEP was associated with impaired HRQoL in both cancer survivors and cancer-free people.

Implications for Cancer Survivors

Targeted care is warranted for cancer survivors with impaired HRQoL, especially among those with low SEP.

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Data availability

The PROFILES registry data has been freely available since 2011, according to the Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable (FAIR) data principles for non-commercial (international) scientific research, which are subject only to privacy and confidentiality restrictions. Data is made available through Questacy (DDI 3.x XML), which can be accessed by the PROFILES registry website (http://www.profilesregistry.nl). The quality guidelines that are formulated in the “Data Seal of Approval” (http://www.datasealofapproval.org) document, developed by Data Archiving and Networked Services (DANS), are followed in order to arrange optimal long-term data warehousing and dissemination.

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Funding

The PROFILES registry was funded by an Investment Grant (#480–08-009) of the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (The Hague, Netherlands). The funding agency had no further role in the design of the study; in data collection, data analysis, or interpretation of data; no role in the writing of this paper; or in the decision to publish the results.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Cancer Survivorship, Danish Cancer Institute, Copenhagen, Denmark

    Anne Katrine Graudal Levinsen, Trille Kristina Kjaer & Susanne Oksbjerg Dalton

  2. Department of Research and Development, Netherlands Comprehensive Cancer Organisation (IKNL), Eindhoven, Netherlands

    Lonneke van de Poll-Franse, Nicole Ezendam, Mieke J. Aarts & Simone Oerlemans

  3. Department of Psychosocial Research and Epidemiology, The Netherlands Cancer Institute, Amsterdam, Netherlands

    Lonneke van de Poll-Franse

  4. Center of Research On Psychology in Somatic Diseases, Department of Medical and Clinical Psychology, Tilburg University, Tilburg, Netherlands

    Lonneke van de Poll-Franse

  5. Danish Research Center for Equality in Cancer, Department of Clinical Oncology & Palliative Care, Zealand University Hospital, Næstved, Denmark

    Susanne Oksbjerg Dalton

Authors
  1. Anne Katrine Graudal Levinsen
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  2. Lonneke van de Poll-Franse
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  3. Nicole Ezendam
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  4. Mieke J. Aarts
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  5. Trille Kristina Kjaer
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  6. Susanne Oksbjerg Dalton
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  7. Simone Oerlemans
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Contributions

Conceptualization: AKGL, SO, LvdP; Data curation: AKGL, SO; Methodology: AKGL, SO, MA, LvdP; Formal analysis: AKGL; Investigation: AKGL, SO, LvdP, NE; Writing – original draft preparation: AKGL; Writing – review and editing: SO, LvdP, TKK, SOD, MA, NE; Supervision: SO, LvdP; Project administration: SO; Funding: LvdP.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Anne Katrine Graudal Levinsen.

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Ethics approval

Ethical approvals for the questionnaire and methodology were obtained locally for all study participants.

Consent to participate

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants in the study.

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

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Levinsen, A.K.G., van de Poll-Franse, L., Ezendam, N. et al. Socioeconomic differences in health-related quality of life among cancer survivors and comparison with a cancer-free population: a PROFILES study. J Cancer Surviv (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11764-023-01494-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11764-023-01494-y

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