The percentage of cancer survivors in the United States reporting functional limitations has more than doubled from 1999 to 2018, representing more than 8 million people, a new study has found.
“The fact that we are saving more lives from cancer is worth celebrating, but it also warrants a shift toward understanding and improving the quality of life for those who survive,” said researcher S.M. Qasim Hussaini, MD, of the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center in Baltimore.
Investigators reviewed records from the annual National Health Interview Survey, from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. During the two-decade study period, most survivors were women (60%) and most were aged 65 years or older (55%). The researchers looked for evidence of 12 functional limitations, including the inability to stand for more than an hour, difficulty sitting for more than two hours and difficulty participating in social activities without assistance.
At least one functional limitation was found for 70% of survivors of cancer, double the amount of functional limitations found among the general population, the researchers reported. Hispanic and Black survivors experienced a disproportionate increase in limitations, possible evidence that improved access to cancer treatment has increased alongside poorer quality of survivorship care, they theorized.
The researchers are calling for urgent action to “address not only the burden of cancer but also its treatment on physical, psychosocial and cognitive function,” Hussaini said.
“The findings are concerning societally and clinically. Greater efforts are needed to ensure that cancer survivors have access to high quality survivorship care and that clinicians are more readily able to identify and address the burdens of cancer,” he concluded.
Full findings were published in JAMA Oncology.
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