Background

Lack of health insurance is a key barrier to accessing care for chronic conditions and cancer screening. We examined the influence of insurance type (private, public, none) on survivor-focused and general preventive health care in adult survivors of childhood cancer.

Methods

The Childhood Cancer Survivor Study is a retrospective cohort study of childhood cancer survivors diagnosed between 1970–1986. Among 8425 adult survivors, the Relative Risk (RR), 95% confidence interval (CI) of receiving survivor-focused and general preventive health care were estimated for uninsured (n=1390) and publicly insured (n=640), comparing to privately insured (n=6395).

Results

Uninsured survivors were less likely than privately insured to report a cancer-related (adjusted RR=0.83, 95% CI, 0.75–0.91) or a cancer center visit (adjusted RR=0.83, 95% CI, 0.71–0.98). Uninsured survivors had lower levels of utilization in all measures of care in comparison with privately insured. In contrast, publicly insured survivors were more likely to report a cancer-related (adjusted RR=1.22, 95% CI, 1.11–1.35) or a cancer center visit (adjusted RR=1.41, 95% CI, 1.18–1.70) than privately insured. While having a similar utilization level of general health examinations, publicly insured survivors were less likely to report Papanicolaou smear or dental examinations.

Conclusion

Among this large, socioeconomically diverse cohort, publicly insured survivors utilize survivor-focused health care at rates at least as high as survivors with private insurance. Uninsured survivors have lower utilization to both survivor-focused and general preventive health care.

Survival for childhood cancer has increased dramatically over the last 40 years with 5-year survival rates now approaching 80%. For many diagnostic groups, rapid increases in survival began in the 1970s with the broader introduction of multimodality approaches, often including combination chemotherapy with or without radiation therapy. With this increase in rates of survivorship has come the recognition that survivors are at risk for adverse health and quality-of-life outcomes, with risk being influenced by host-, disease-, and treatment-related factors. In 1994, the US National Cancer Institute funded the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study, a multi-institutional research initiative designed to establish a large and extensively characterized cohort of more than 14,000 5-year survivors of childhood and adolescent cancer diagnosed between 1970 and 1986. This ongoing study, which reflects the single most comprehensive body of information ever assembled on childhood and adolescent cancer survivors, provides a dynamic framework and resource to investigate current and future questions about childhood cancer survivors.

Aims

This study describes alcohol consumption among adult survivors of pediatric cancer compared to sibling controls and a national sample of healthy peers. Risk factors for heavy drinking among survivors are described.

Design, Setting and Participants

Cross-sectional data were utilized from the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study including adult survivors of pediatric cancer (N=10,398), and a sibling cohort (n=3,034). Comparison data were drawn from the National Alcohol Survey (n=4,774).

Measurement

Alcohol consumption, demographic, cancer diagnosis, treatment and psychosocial factors were measured.

Findings

Compared to peers, survivors were slightly less likely to be risky (ORadj=0.9; CI 0.8-1.0) and heavy drinkers (ORadj=0.8; CI 0.7-0.9) and more likely to be current drinkers. Compared to siblings, survivors were less likely to be current, risky and heavy drinkers. Risk factors for survivors’ heavy drinking included being age 18-21 (ORadj=2.0; 95% CI 1.5-2.6), male (ORadj=2.1; 95% CI 1.8-2.6), having high school education or less (ORadj=3.4; 95% CI 2.7-4.4), and drinking initiation before age 14 (ORadj=6.9; 95% CI 4.4-10.8). Among survivors, symptoms of depression, anxiety, or somatization, activity limitations and anxiety about cancer were associated with heavy drinking. Cognitively compromising treatment, brain tumors and older age at diagnosis were protective.

Conclusions

Adult survivors of childhood cancer show only a modest reduction in alcohol consumption compared to peers despite their more vulnerable health status. Distress and poorer health are associated with survivor heavy drinking. Screening for alcohol consumption should be instituted in long-term follow-up care and interventions among survivors and siblings should be established to reduce risk for early drinking.

Objective

Recent studies have found that a subset of young adult survivors of childhood cancer report posttraumatic stress symptoms in response to their diagnosis and treatment. However, it is unclear if these symptoms are associated with impairment in daily functions and/or significant distress, thereby resulting in a clinical disorder. Furthermore, it is unknown whether this disorder continues into very long-term survivorship, including the 3rd and 4th decades of life. This study hypothesized that very long-term survivors of childhood cancer would be more likely to report symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder, with functional impairment and/or clinical distress, compared to a group of healthy siblings.

Patients and Methods

6,542 childhood cancer survivors over the age of 18 who were diagnosed between 1970 and 1986 and 368 siblings of cancer survivors completed a comprehensive demographic and health survey.

Results

589 survivors (9%) and 8 siblings (2%) reported functional impairment and/or clinical distress in addition to the set of symptoms consistent with a full diagnosis of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Survivors had more than a four-fold risk of PTSD compared to siblings (OR=4.14, 95%CI: 2.08-8.25). Controlling for demographic and treatment variables, increased risk of PTSD was associated with educational level of high school or less (OR=1.51, 95% CI=1.16-1.98), being unmarried (OR=1.99, 95% CI=1.58-2.50), annual income less than $20,000 (OR=1.63, 95% CI=1.21-2.20), and being unemployed (OR=2.01, 95% CI=1.62-2.51). Intensive treatment was also associated with increased risk of full PTSD (OR=1.36, 95% CI 1.06 -1.74).

Conclusions

Posttraumatic stress disorder is reported significantly more often by childhood cancer survivors than by sibling controls. Although most survivors are apparently doing well, a subset report significant impairment that may warrant targeted intervention.