Poster Presentation Clinical Oncology Society of Australia 2014 Annual Scientific Meeting

A comparison of the unmet needs of younger and older adult haematological cancer survivors (#316)

Alix Hall 1 , Rob Sanson-Fisher 1 , Marita Lynagh 1 , Flora Tzelepis 1 2 , Catherine D'Este 3
  1. University of Newcastle & Hunter Medical Research Institute, Callaghan, Australia
  2. Hunter New England Population Health, Wallsend
  3. National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health, Research School of Population Health, ANU College of Medicine, Biology & Environment, Australian National University, Acton, Canberra, Australia

Aims: Compare the unmet needs of older (≥60 years at diagnosis) and younger (<60 years at diagnosis) haematological cancer survivors.

Methods: Haematological cancer survivors, aged 18 to 80 years (at time of study) were recruited from four Australian cancer registries. Survivors were sent a self-report pen-and-paper survey containing the Survivors Unmet Needs Survey (SUNS). The SUNS assesses cancer survivors unmet needs over the last month, across five domains of supportive care, using a five-point Likert scale (0 “no unmet need” to 4 “very high unmet need”). Domain scores were calculated and compared between younger and older haematological cancer survivors. The percentage of younger and older survivors reporting no unmet needs across all 89-items of the SUNS was also compared.

Results:1,957 eligible survivors were contacted by the registries, of which 715 (37%) returned a completed survey.A total of 298 younger and 367 older haematological cancer survivors were identified as having returned a completed survey. Younger survivors compared to older survivors reported a significantly higher level of unmet needs on all five domains of the SUNS: information (Median =0.63 vs. 0.13; z = 5.75, p<0.001), financial concerns (Median =0.36 vs. 0.09; z = 5.57, p<0.001), access and continuity of care (Median = 0.14 vs. 0.05; z = 3.81, p<0.001), relationships (Median = 0.53 vs. 0.07; z = 6.50, p<0.001) and emotional health (Median = 0.55 vs. 0.21; z = 4.57, p<0.001). A significantly higher percentage of older survivors (n=68, 26%) reported no unmet needs on all 89 items compared to younger survivors (n=33, 14%; χ2=12.38, df=1, p<0.001).

Conclusions: Younger haematological cancer survivors seem to be a vulnerable patient group, who may be in need of additional support. Future research should aim to develop and test the effectiveness of intervention strategies tailored to addressing the specific concerns of younger haematological cancers.