Background
Methods
Study design and participants
Measurements
Fear of cancer recurrence
(1) Being afraid of disease progression |
---|
(2) Being nervous prior to doctor’s appointment or periodic examinations |
(3) Being afraid of pain |
(4) Being afraid of becoming less productive at work |
(5) Having physical sensations, e.g., rapid heartbeat, stomach ache, nervousness |
(6) Being afraid of the possibility that the children could contract cancer |
(7) Being afraid of relying on strangers for activities of daily living |
(8) Being afraid of no longer be able to pursue hobbies |
(9) Being afraid of severe medical treatments in the course of the illness |
(10) Worrying that medication could damage the body |
(11) Worrying about what will become of the family |
12) Being afraid of not being able to work anymore |
Determinants of FoR
Variables | T1 | T2 | T3 | T4 |
---|---|---|---|---|
Fear of cancer recurrence (FoP-Q-SF) | x | x |
x
| |
Sociodemographic variables | ||||
Age |
x
| |||
Family status | x | x | x |
x
|
Number of children |
x
| |||
Employment status | x | x | x |
x
|
Vocational education level |
x
| |||
Health-related variables | ||||
Cancer classification (UICC) |
x
| |||
Number of comorbidities | x |
x
| ||
Recurrence status |
x
| |||
Fatigue (Fatigue Assessment Questionnaire) |
x
| |||
Treatment-related variables | ||||
Chemotherapy |
x
|
x
|
x
| |
Radiation therapy |
x
|
x
|
x
| |
Hormonotherapy |
x
|
x
|
x
| |
Confidence in treatment |
x
|
Statistical methods
Results
Descriptive results
Abs (%) | Mean | Standard deviation | Min–max | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Dependent variable: fear of recurrence (FoR) | |||||
T1 | 35.10 | 8.61 | 18–60 | ||
Missing | 13 (7.1) | ||||
T3 | 31.23 | 8.46 | 16.36–54.55 | ||
Missing | 20 (10.9) | ||||
T4 | 29.14 | 9.06 | 12–54 | ||
Missing | 8 (4.3) | ||||
Independent variables: sociodemographic variables | |||||
Age in years (T4) | 56.93 | 6.82 | 36–79 | ||
Missing | 15 (8.2) | ||||
Marital status (T4) | Married | 134 (72.8) | |||
Single | 17 (9.2) | ||||
Divorced/widowed | 33 (17.9) | ||||
Missing | 0 (0.0) | ||||
Number of children (T4) | 1.52 | 0.98 | 0–4 | ||
Missing | 0 (0.0) | ||||
Vocational training (T1) | Low | 106 (57.6) | |||
Intermediate | 34 (18.5) | ||||
High | 33 (17.9) | ||||
Missing | 11 (6.0) | ||||
Employment status (T4) | Full time | 51 (27.7) | |||
Part time/occupational rehabilitation | 85 (46.2) | ||||
Non-working | 42 (22.8) | ||||
Missing | 6 (3.3) | ||||
Independent variables: health-related variables | |||||
UICC TNM stage (T1) | UICC 0/1 | 79 (42.9) | |||
UICC 2/3/4 | 71 (38.6) | ||||
Missing | 34 (18.5) | ||||
Number of comorbidities (T4) | 1.01 | 1.10 | 0–5 | ||
Missing | 17 (9.2) | ||||
Recurrence (T4) | No | 145 (78.8) | |||
Yes | 36 (19.6) | ||||
Missing | 3 (1.6) | ||||
Fatigue (T4) | 20.75 | 15.62 | 0–59 | ||
Missing | 1 (0.5) | ||||
Independent variables: treatment-related variables | |||||
Chemotherapy (T1, T2, and T3) | No | 95 (51.6) | |||
Yes | 80 (43.5) | ||||
Missing | 9 (4.9) | ||||
Radiation therapy (T1, T2, and T3) | No | 113 (61.4) | |||
Yes | 62 (33.7) | ||||
Missing | 9 (4.9) | ||||
Hormonotherapy (T1, T2, and T3) | No | 54 (29.3) | |||
Yes | 121 (65.8) | ||||
Missing | 9 (4.9) | ||||
Confidence in treatment (T1) | 8.99 | 1.29 | 2–10 | ||
Missing | 11 (6.0) |
Multivariate results
Model 1 | Model 2 | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Variables | Response trait | OR | 95% CI | OR | 95% CI |
Age in years | Metric | 0.90* | 0.82–1.00 | 0.98 | 0.87–1.10 |
Marital status | Married | 0.12** | 0.03–0.53 | 0.14* | 0.02–0.83 |
Single | 0.17 | 0.20–1.43 | 0.57 | 0.04–9.04 | |
Divorced/widowed | 1.0 | 1.0 | |||
Number of children | Metric | 1.17 | 0.70–1.96 | 1.01 | 0.56–1.81 |
Vocational training | Low | 2.02 | 0.59–6.99 | 1.77 | 0.39–8.08 |
Intermediate | 0.76 | 0.16–3.72 | 0.59 | 0.90–3.86 | |
High | 1.0 | 1.0 | |||
Employment status | Full time | 0.78 | 0.16–3.99 | 2.06 | 0.24–17.43 |
Part time/occupational rehabilitation | 0.85 | 0.21–3.56 | 2.26 | 0.40–12.69 | |
Non-working | 1.0 | 1.0 | |||
UICC TNM stage | Stage 0/I | 0.75 | 0.23–2.38 | 0.76 | 0.19–3.12 |
Stage II/III/IV | 1.0 | 1.0 | |||
Number of comorbidities | Metric | 2.46** | 1.49–4.04 | 1.37 | 0.75–2.52 |
Recurrence | No | 2.23 | 0.71–6.94 | 1.50 | 0.38–5.98 |
Yes | 1.0 | ||||
Chemotherapy | Yes | 10.48* | 2.71–40.53 | 5.53* | 1.22–25.15 |
No | 1.0 | 1.0 | |||
Radiation therapy | Yes | 2.63 | 0.81–8.59 | 2.99 | 0.74–12.12 |
No | 1.0 | 1.0 | |||
Hormonotherapy | Yes | 2.95 | 0.92–9.46 | 2.55 | 0.67–9.72 |
No | 1.0 | 1.0 | |||
Fatigue | Metric | 1.11** | 1.05–1.17 | ||
Confidence in treatment | Metric | 0.63* | 0.41–0.97 | ||
Nagelkerkes-R2 | 0.461 | 0.632 |