Abstract
Background: With improved diagnostics and treatment, more than 90% of young men with Hodgkin’s lymphoma (HL) and testicular cancer (TC), can expect to be cured. It has been questioned if these men regain their pre-morbid health completely, or if they will suffer permanent injury in relation to their physical and mental health and quality of life (QoL).
This can indirectly be measured by studying how often these men seek medical attention.
Goal: In this study I wanted to compare the use of health services between 270 long-time cancer survivors (LCS) and 2.700 age-matched male controls from the normal population as to their physical and mental health and quality of life (QoL), as well as health care consumption.
Hypotheses: I did not expect any significant differences between the two groups of LCS, but I expected th LCSs to have poorer physical and mental health, lower QoL, and having higher health care consumption than the the age-matched controls from the general population.
Methods: The LCS group consisted of two groups of men aged 20-59 years who had been treated at Rikshospitalet-Radiumhospitalet HF between 5 and 21 years ago: 135 for HL (HLSs) and 135 for TC (TCSs). When matching these two groups of LCS, age and treatment modalities (radiation therapy and/or chemotherapy) were taken into consideration. The control group of men was taken from The Nord-Trøndelag Health Study 1995-97 (HUNT-2). Both the LCS and the controls groups reported on their physical and mental health and QoL as well as health care consumption by self-reported in the same questionnaires.
Results: Significantly more HLSs than TCSs had been in contact with a doctor during the last year, although the differences between the two groups were small, considering physical and mental health and QoL. The LCSs had been seeking medical attention significantly more often during the last year, compared to the control group. This was significantly associated with impaired health and more use of medication on a daily basis.
Conclusion: With an increasing number of LCSs, the Health Services have to be prepared for increased demand for medical services from these survivors. HLSs and TCSs are both groups that are treated at a young age, and they will need medical attention for many years to come compared to mean at their age without cancer experience.