TY - JOUR
T1 - Mapping unmet supportive care needs, quality-of-life perceptions and current symptoms in cancer survivors across the Asia-Pacific region
T2 - Results from the International STEP Study
AU - Molassiotis, Alex
AU - Yates, P.
AU - Li, Q.
AU - So, W. K.W.
AU - Pongthavornkamol, K.
AU - Pittayapan, P.
AU - Komatsu, H.
AU - Thandar, M.
AU - Li, M. S.
AU - Titus Chacko, S.
AU - Lopez, V.
AU - Butcon, J.
AU - Wyld, D.
AU - Chan, R. J.
AU - on behalf of the STEP Study Collaborators, behalf of the STEP Study Collaborators
AU - Doolan, Melissa
AU - Litam, Maria Estrella
AU - Onofre, Rubiliza
AU - Lluch, Conchitina
AU - Nacion, Rosebe
AU - Ombao, Maria Luisa
AU - Soe, Zaw Wai
AU - Myint, Theingi
AU - Ang, Emily
AU - Arao, Harue
AU - Yagasaki, Kaori
AU - Ravindran, Vinitha
AU - Rhenius, Roselin V.
AU - Lucas, Amalorpavamari
AU - Kujur, Lillian Percy
AU - Princy, Abijah
AU - Choi, Kai chow
AU - Choy, Yin Ping
AU - Lee, Yan Pui
AU - Shiu, Chun Yip
AU - Tong, Man
AU - Xu, Yinghua
AU - Tun, U. Hla
AU - Si, Shwe Yaung Hnin
N1 - Funding Information:
STEP collaborators: Australia: Melissa Doolan. Philippines: Maria Estrella Litam; Rubiliza Onofre; Conchitina Lluch; Rosebe Nacion; Maria Luisa Ombao. Myanmar: Zaw Wai Soe; Theingi Myint. Singapore: Emily Ang. Japan: Dr Harue Arao (Osaka University); Dr Kaori Yagasaki (Keio University). India: Dr Vinitha Ravindran, Mrs. Roselin V. Rhenius, Mrs Amalorpavamari Lucas, Mrs Lillian Percy Kujur, Mrs Abijah Princy. Hong Kong SAR: Kai-chow CHOI, Yin-ping CHOY, Yan-pui LEE, Chun-yip SHIU, Man TONG. China: Yinghua XU. Other acknowledgements: Myanmar: U Hla Tun Cancer Foundation, Shwe Yaung Hnin Si Cancer Foundation. Lopburi Cancer Hospital, Lopburi Province, Thailand. Tuen Mun Hospital, Princess Margaret Hospital, Hong Kong SAR. Siriraj Cancer Center: Thailand. Wuxi People's Hospital, Wuxi, Jiangsu Province, China. All patients who participated in our study across all countries and sites. RJC was supported by an NHMRC Health Professional Fellowship (APP1070997). The study was partly funded by the Hong Kong Polytechnic University (Hong Kong and Philippines) and Queensland University of Technology; China Medical Board of New York Inc., Faculty of Nursing, Mahidol University (Thailand); and Routine to Research (R2R) Management Fund, Faculty of Medicine Siriraj Hospital, Mahidol University, Thailand.
Publisher Copyright:
© The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Society for Medical Oncology. All rights reserved.
PY - 2017/10
Y1 - 2017/10
N2 - Background: To assess the supportive care needs, quality of life (QoL) and symptoms of patients with cancer after the end of first-line treatments and into survivorship in Asian countries using Australian data as benchmark. Patients and methods: A cross-sectional survey was carried out in Australia and eight high-income (HICs) and low-/middle-income (LMICs) Asian countries (China, Japan, Hong Kong SAR, South Korea, Myanmar, Thailand, India, Philippines) using validated scales (Cancer Survivors Unmet Needs scale), physical-symptom concerns (Cancer Survivors Survey of Needs subscale) and a single-item measure of global QoL perception. Results: Data were collected from 1748 patients from nine countries. QoL was highest in Australia and all other countries had significantly lower QoL than Australia (all P < 0.001). One-quarter of the patients reported low QoL (scores 1-3/10). The most frequently reported symptoms were fatigue (66.6%), loss of strength (61.8%), pain (61.6%), sleep disturbance (60.1%), and weight changes (57.7%), with no difference in symptom experience between Australian data and all other countries, or between HICs and LMICs. Unmet needs of moderate/strong level were particularly high in all aspects assessed, particularly in the area of existential survivorship (psychosocial care) and receiving comprehensive cancer care. Australia and HICs were similar in terms of unmet needs (all low), but LMICs had a significantly higher number of needs both compared with Australia and HICs (all P < 0.001). Conclusion: Health care systems in Asian countries need to re-think and prioritize survivorship cancer care and put action plans in place to overcome some of the challenges surrounding the delivery of optimal supportive cancer care, use available resource-stratified guidelines for supportive care and test efficient and cost-effective models of survivorship care.
AB - Background: To assess the supportive care needs, quality of life (QoL) and symptoms of patients with cancer after the end of first-line treatments and into survivorship in Asian countries using Australian data as benchmark. Patients and methods: A cross-sectional survey was carried out in Australia and eight high-income (HICs) and low-/middle-income (LMICs) Asian countries (China, Japan, Hong Kong SAR, South Korea, Myanmar, Thailand, India, Philippines) using validated scales (Cancer Survivors Unmet Needs scale), physical-symptom concerns (Cancer Survivors Survey of Needs subscale) and a single-item measure of global QoL perception. Results: Data were collected from 1748 patients from nine countries. QoL was highest in Australia and all other countries had significantly lower QoL than Australia (all P < 0.001). One-quarter of the patients reported low QoL (scores 1-3/10). The most frequently reported symptoms were fatigue (66.6%), loss of strength (61.8%), pain (61.6%), sleep disturbance (60.1%), and weight changes (57.7%), with no difference in symptom experience between Australian data and all other countries, or between HICs and LMICs. Unmet needs of moderate/strong level were particularly high in all aspects assessed, particularly in the area of existential survivorship (psychosocial care) and receiving comprehensive cancer care. Australia and HICs were similar in terms of unmet needs (all low), but LMICs had a significantly higher number of needs both compared with Australia and HICs (all P < 0.001). Conclusion: Health care systems in Asian countries need to re-think and prioritize survivorship cancer care and put action plans in place to overcome some of the challenges surrounding the delivery of optimal supportive cancer care, use available resource-stratified guidelines for supportive care and test efficient and cost-effective models of survivorship care.
KW - Asia-Pacific region
KW - Cancer survivorship
KW - Care provision
KW - Quality of life
KW - Supportive care needs
KW - Symptoms
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85030556590&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1093/annonc/mdx350
DO - 10.1093/annonc/mdx350
M3 - Journal article
C2 - 28961835
AN - SCOPUS:85030556590
SN - 0923-7534
VL - 28
SP - 2552
EP - 2558
JO - Annals of Oncology
JF - Annals of Oncology
IS - 10
ER -
