In a Psycho-Oncology study of childhood cancer survivors, several health behaviors fell short of expectations for exercise and diet during early survivorship, and they remained sub-optimal upon reaching five years post-diagnosis.
In a Psycho-Oncology study of childhood cancer survivors, several health behaviors fell short of expectations for exercise and diet during early survivorship, and they remained sub-optimal upon reaching five years post-diagnosis.
The study followed families of children with cancer (ages 5-17 at recruitment) from diagnosis through five years. Three years and five years post-diagnosis, 82 survivors and 103 mothers of survivors completed questionnaires assessing exercise, dietary, and sleep patterns among survivors.
At three- and five-years post-diagnosis, mothers’ and survivors’ responses indicated that few survivors engaged in appropriate levels of low-intensity exercise, fruit/vegetable intake, and dairy consumption; however, most survivors engaged in recommended levels of high intensity exercise, fast food restriction, and sleep. Higher income was associated with decreased intake of fast food over time, whereas lower income was associated with increased intake.
“Childhood cancer survivors are at elevated risk for a multitude of conditions later in life, and greater engagement in healthy habits may be particularly important for this population,” said lead author Rachel Fisher, of Nationwide Children’s Hospital, in Columbus. “These findings emphasize that there is much work to be done to ensure that these survivors enjoy full, healthy lives.”
Additional Information
Link to Study: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/pon.4911
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Psycho-Oncology is concerned with the psychological, social, behavioral, and ethical aspects of cancer. This subspeciality addresses the two major psychological dimensions of cancer: the psychological responses of patients to cancer at all stages of the disease, and that of their families and caretakers; and the psychological, behavioral and social factors that may influence the disease process. Psycho-oncology is an area of multi-disciplinary interest and has boundaries with the major specialities in oncology: the clinical disciplines (surgery, medicine, pediatrics, radiotherapy), epidemiology, immunology, endocrinology, biology, pathology, bioethics, palliative care, rehabilitation medicine, clinical trials research and decision making, as well as psychiatry and psychology.
This international journal is published twelve times a year and will consider contributions to research of clinical and theoretical interest. Topics covered are wide-ranging and relate to the psychosocial aspects of cancer and AIDS-related tumors, including: epidemiology, quality of life, palliative and supportive care, psychiatry, psychology, sociology, social work, nursing and educational issues.
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