• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
• /
• v.16 no.4
• /
• pp.1415-1420
• /
• 2015

Background: We compared the health-promoting behavior of long-term cancer survivors with those of the general population to identify necessary behavioral interventions to reduce the health risk among cancer patients. Materials and Methods: We used data from the 2007 and 2012 Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (KNHANES IV [2007~2009] and KNHANES V [2010~2012]) on smoking status, alcohol use, physical exercise, and disease screening. We compared long-term cancer survivors with members of the general population; the controls were matched by propensity score matching. A multiple logistic regression model was used to investigate the association between cancer status and health-promoting behavior. Results: Long-term cancer survivors had a lower risk of smoking than the general population controls (OR: 0.42, 95%CI: 0.25-0.71). In addition, the long-term cancer survivors had a lower risk of alcohol use than the general population controls (OR: 0.70, 95%CI: 0.50-0.98). However, in terms of physical exercise and disease screening, no statistically significant differences were detected (physical exercise OR: 1.01, 95%CI: 0.75-1.35; disease screening OR: 1.27, 95%CI: 0.93-1.74). All covariates were adjusted. Conclusions: The long-term cancer survivors had a much lower risk of smoking and alcohol use than the general population controls. However, almost no differences in physical exercise and screening for cancer recurrence or secondary disease were detected between the long-term cancer survivors and general population controls. To reduce the health risks and challenges facing long-term cancer survivors, interventions to encourage physical exercise and screening for cancer recurrence and secondary disease should be implemented.

• Child Health Nursing Research
• /
• v.18 no.1
• /
• pp.19-28
• /
• 2012

Purpose: The study aimed to identity specific needs for services and programs to help childhood cancer survivors adjust and adapt to life after treatment. Methods: In-depth interviews were conducted with 31 childhood cancer survivors, diagnosed with cancer before the age of 18 and currently between 15 and 39 years of age. Each survivor had completed his/her cancer treatment. Results: The participating cancer survivors reported needs for services related to psychological counseling, schooling and learning, social skills, mentorship, integrated health management, self support activities, families of survivors, and public recognition and awareness. Conclusion: The results of the study indicate a need to better understand childhood cancer survivors, provides a basis for developing various services and programs to improve the quality of life among childhood cancer patients, survivors, and their families, and supports the importance of psychosocial adjustment.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
• /
• v.16 no.6
• /
• pp.2257-2261
• /
• 2015

Background: Return to work after treatment completion is important for both cancer survivors and society. Financial distress is one of the factors that may influence the return to work in cancer survivors. However, this relationship has not been well investigated. This study aimed to determine the rate of return to work and its relation to financial distress among Iranian cancer survivors. Materials and Methods: This descriptive-correlational study was undertaken among 165 cancer survivors who completed their initial treatments and had no signs of active cancer. The Return to Work questionnaire and Financial Distress/Financial Well-Being Scale were used for data collection. Data were analyzed using SPSS statistical software. Results: After initial treatments, 120 cancer survivors (72%) had returned to work, of which 50 patients (42%) had returned to full-time work and 70 (58%) reduced their work hours and returned to part-time work. Cancer survivors also reported high levels of financial distress. In addition, the financial distress was lower among patients who had returned completely to work, in comparison to patients who had quit working for cancer-related reasons (p= 0.001) or returned to work as part-time workers (p=0.001). Conclusions: The findings showed that a high percent of Iranian cancer survivors had not returned to their jobs or considerably reduced working hours after treatment completion. Accordingly, due to high levels of financial distress experienced by participants and its relation to return to work, designing rehabilitation programs to facilitate cancer survivor return to work should be considered.

• Journal of East-West Nursing Research
• /
• v.22 no.2
• /
• pp.87-95
• /
• 2016

Purpose: The purposes of this study were to develop a community-based Mind Subtraction meditation program for cancer survivors and examine the effectiveness of the developed program on quality of life, life satisfaction, and expectancy of satisfactory life in cancer survivors. Methods: This study used a one group, pretest-posttest design. A 5-week community-based meditation program for cancer survivors was offered twice a week with each session up to 2 hours. 10 cancer survivors who had completed cancer treatments participated in this study. Data were collected using self-reported questionnaires and personal journals about the meditation experience from September 10 to December 11, 2015 at a health center branch in Seoul, South Korea. Results: There were statistically significant differences in physical domain of quality of life (QOL) expectancy of satisfactory life. Conclusion: This study shows that the community-based Mind Subtraction meditation program for cancer survivors can be considered as an effective nursing intervention to improve quality of life and expectancy of satisfactory life among cancer survivors in a community setting.

• Journal of the Korea Convergence Society
• /
• v.11 no.3
• /
• pp.361-368
• /
• 2020

The purpose of this study was to identify studies related to childhood cancer survivors' health-related needs and analyze scales for measurement of childhood cancer survivors' health-related needs. Studies related to childhood cancer survivors' health-related needs were retrieved from computerized databases using a manual search. The review included 17 studies. The main domains of childhood cancer survivors' health related needs were derived from the studies was psychosocial needs. 4 need assessment scales analyzed in this study were developed in foreign countries. scales were not suitable for the measurement of the needs of Korea childhood cancer survivors. Thus, should be developed comprehensive health related needs scale of childhood cancer survivors in future study.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
• /
• v.44 no.2
• /
• pp.139-148
• /
• 2014

Purpose: This study was conducted to identify the factors influencing second primary cancer (SPC) screening practice by examining the relationships of physical symptoms, knowledge and attitudes regarding SPC screening, perceived risk, primary cancer type, and demographic factors of cancer survivors. Methods: Participants were 308 survivors of stomach, colon, or breast cancer recruited from 2 university hospitals in Korea. Data were collected using a questionnaire and analyzed using IBM SPSS 21.0 and AMOS 18.0. Results: The proportion of participants taking all cancer screenings according to national guidelines was 40%. They had moderate knowledge and a relatively positive attitude regarding SPC screening and high cancer risk perception. The participants had taken fewer SPC screenings after than before cancer diagnosis. The factors influencing cancer risk perception were age, physical symptoms, knowledge regarding SPC and primary cancer type (stomach). The factors influencing SPC screening practice were age, gender, economic status, knowledge regarding SPC screening, and primary cancer types (colon). Conclusion: It is important for clinical professionals to recognize that survivors of cancer are susceptible to another cancer. Education on SPC screening for these survivors should focus on communicating with and encouraging them to have regular cancer screenings.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
• /
• v.46 no.1
• /
• pp.50-58
• /
• 2016

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to identify the knowledge structure of cancer survivors. Methods: For data, 1099 articles were collected, with 365 keywords as a Noun phrase extracted from the articles and standardized for analyzing. Co-occurrence matrix were generated via a cosine similarity measure, and then the network analysis and visualization using PFNet and NodeXL were applied to visualize intellectual interchanges among keywords. Results: According to the result of the content analysis and the cluster analysis of author keywords from cancer survivors articles, keywords such as 'quality of life', 'breast neoplasms', 'cancer survivors', 'neoplasms', 'exercise' had a high degree centrality. The 9 most important research topics concerning cancer survivors were 'cancer-related symptoms and nursing', 'cancer treatment-related issues', 'late effects', 'psychosocial issues', 'healthy living managements', 'social supports', 'palliative cares', 'research methodology', and 'research participants'. Conclusion: Through this study, the knowledge structure of cancer survivors was identified. The 9 topics identified in this study can provide useful research direction for the development of nursing in cancer survivor research areas. The Network analysis used in this study will be useful for identifying the knowledge structure and identifying general views and current cancer survivor research trends.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
• /
• v.16 no.11
• /
• pp.4705-4710
• /
• 2015

Background: Though a large proportion of cancer survivors are assumed to be commonly affected by sleep disturbance, few studies have focused on short sleep problems and its correlates among Korean cancer survivors. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of short sleep in adult cancer survivors from a nationwide population-based sample and to identify risk factors for short sleep duration. Materials and Methods: Based on the fourth and fifth Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (2007-2012), 1,045 cancer survivors and 33,929 non-cancer controls were analyzed. The prevalence of short sleep was compared between these two groups. Associations between short sleep and its correlates were evaluated using multiple logistic regression among cancer survivors: odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (95%CIs) were estimated after adjusting for sociodemographic factors, lifestyle factors, psychological conditions, and cancer-related factors. Results: About 8.1% of cancer survivors slept for less than 5 hours per day (6.2% men and 9.3% women), whereas this was the case for only 3.7% of non-cancer controls. Cancer survivors who had the lowest household income level showed a significantly higher likelihood for short sleep (adjusted OR 2.82, 95%CI 1.06-7.54). Self-reported poor health and depressive symptoms were found to be associated with significantly increased likelihood for short sleep in cancer survivors (adjusted OR 3.60, 95%CI 1.40-9.26 and adjusted OR 2.00, 95%CI 1.17-3.42). Gastric cancer survivors had a 3.97-fold increased risk for short sleep (95%CI 1.60-9.90). Conclusions: The prevalence of short sleep occurs at a high rate among the Korean cancer survivors, which may indicate a poorer quality of life and a higher risk of future complications in survivorship. Targeted interventions that can assist cancer survivors to cope with sleep disturbances as well as ensuring psychological stability are warranted to reduce the latent disease burden.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
• /
• v.56 no.5
• /
• pp.440-448
• /
• 2023

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to assess predictors of health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in elderly Asian American and non-Hispanic White cancer survivors. Methods: We conducted cross-sectional secondary data analyses using the combined datasets from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results program and the Medicare Health Outcomes Survey. Results: Elderly Asian American cancer survivors reported a lower mental HRQoL but a comparable physical HRQoL relative to elderly non-Hispanic White cancer survivors. Stress factors, such as comorbidities, difficulties with activities of daily living, and a history of depressive symptoms, along with coping resources like self-rated health and the ability to take the survey in English, were significantly associated with mental and physical HRQoL. Among elderly Asian American cancer survivors, a significantly lower mental HRQoL was observed among those taking the survey in the Chinese language. Conclusions: The findings suggest that race exerts a differential impact on HRQoL. Interventions should be designed to address the distinct cultural, linguistic, and systemic needs of elderly Asian American cancer survivors. Such an approach could assist in reducing cancer-related health disparities.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
• /
• v.53 no.4
• /
• pp.465-470
• /
• 2010

The number of long-term survivors is increasing in the western countries due to remarkable improvements in the treatment of childhood cancer. The long-term complications of childhood cancer survivors in these countries were brought to light by the childhood cancer survivor studies. In Korea, the 5-year survival rate of childhood cancer patients is approaching 70%; therefore, it is extremely important to undertake similar long-term follow-up studies and comprehensive long-term care for our population. On the basis of the experiences of childhood cancer survivorship care of the western countries and the current Korean status of childhood cancer survivors, long-term follow-up study and long-term care systems need to be established in Korea in the near future. This system might contribute to the improvement of the quality of life of childhood cancer survivors through effective intervention strategies.