Activation and Preparedness for Survivorship Care Among Survivors of Oral and Oropharyngeal Cancers

TL;DR

This study explores how oral and oropharyngeal cancer survivors feel prepared for ongoing care and identifies factors like insurance type and depression that influence their readiness.

Contribution

The study identifies sociodemographic, medical, and psychosocial factors associated with activation and preparedness for survivorship care in cancer survivors.

Findings

Having Medicare or non-private insurance and receiving a treatment summary are linked to higher activation.

Older age and having a partner are associated with higher preparedness for survivorship care.

Depression and information needs are linked to lower activation and preparedness.

Abstract

The objectives were to characterize activation and preparedness for survivorship care and identify key sociodemographic variables, medical characteristics, care transition experiences, and psychosocial factors associated with preparedness and activation among recent oral and oropharyngeal cancer survivors.

In this cross‐sectional study, 593 oral/oropharyngeal cancer survivors from cancer registries completed an online survey, and medical data were collected from the cancer registry.

In multivariable analyses, having Medicare or other types of non‐private insurance and having a treatment summary were associated with more activation, and lower activation was associated with being married/partnered, having a recurrence, and reporting more information needs and more depression. Older age, having a partner, Hispanic ethnicity, having Medicare insurance, and receiving a treatment summary were associated with higher preparedness for survivorship care, and being female, multiple race, employed, receiving chemotherapy, more information needs, higher fear of recurrence, and more depression were associated with less preparedness for survivorship care.

This study identified factors associated with self‐reported activation and preparedness for survivorship care. Future research may benefit from evaluating these risk factors using a longitudinal design. If confirmed in longitudinal studies, interventions seeking to improve self‐reported activation and preparedness for survivorship care could be targeted to survivors at greater risk.