Kelly Kenzik

Association Between the Prevalence of Symptoms and Health-Related Quality of Life in Adult Survivors of Childhood Cancer: A Report From the St Jude Lifetime Cohort Study

PURPOSE We investigated the association between prevalence of symptoms and health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in adult survivors of childhood cancer enrolled in the St Jude Lifetime Cohort study. METHODS Eligibility criteria include childhood malignancy treated at St Jude, survival ≥ 10 years from diagnosis, and current age ≥ 18 years. Study participants were 1,667 survivors (response rate = 65%). Symptoms were self-reported by using a comprehensive health questionnaire and categorized into 12 classes: cardiac; pulmonary; motor/movement; pain in head; pain in back/neck; pain involving sites other than head, neck, and back; sensation abnormalities; disfigurement; learning/memory; anxiety; depression; and somatization. HRQOL was measured by using physical/mental component summary (PCS/MCS) and six domain scores of the Medical Outcomes Study 36-Item Short-Form Health Survey. Multivariable regression analysis was performed to investigate associations between symptom classes and HRQOL. Cumulative prevalence of symptom classes in relation to time from diagnosis was estimated. RESULTS Pain involving sites other than head, neck and back, and disfigurement represented the most frequent symptom classes, endorsed by 58.7% and 56.3% of survivors, respectively. Approximately 87% of survivors reported multiple symptom classes. Greater symptom prevalence was associated with poorer HRQOL. In multivariable analysis, symptom classes explained up to 60% of the variance in PCS and 56% of the variance in MCS; demographic and clinical variables explained up to 15% of the variance in PCS and 10% of the variance in MCS. Longer time since diagnosis was associated with higher cumulative prevalence in all symptom classes. CONCLUSION A large proportion of survivors suffered from many symptom classes, which was associated with HRQOL impairment.

The Patient Care Connect Program: Transforming Health Care Through Lay Navigation

The Patient Care Connect Program (PCCP) is a lay patient navigation program, implemented by the University of Alabama at Birmingham Health System Cancer Community Network. The PCCPs goal is to provide better health and health care, as well as to lower overall expenditures. The program focuses on enhancing the health of patients, with emphasis on patient empowerment and promoting proactive participation in health care. Navigator training emphasizes palliative care principles and includes development of skills to facilitate advance care planning conversations. Lay navigators are integrated into the health care team, with the support of a nurse supervisor, physician medical director, and administrative champion. The intervention focuses on patients with high needs to reach those with the greatest potential for benefit from supportive services. Navigator activities are guided by frequent distress assessments, which help to identify patient concerns across multiple domains, triage patients to appropriate resources, and ultimately overcome barriers to health care. In this article, we describe the PCCPs development, infrastructure, selection and training of lay navigators, and program operations.

Economic hardship of minority and non‐minority cancer survivors 1 year after diagnosis: Another long‐term effect of cancer?

Current literature suggests that racial/ethnic minority survivors may be more likely than whites to experience economic hardship after a cancer diagnosis; however, little is known about such hardship.

Resource Use and Medicare Costs During Lay Navigation for Geriatric Patients With Cancer

Importance Lay navigators in the Patient Care Connect Program support patients with cancer from diagnosis through survivorship to end of life. They empower patients to engage in their health care and navigate them through the increasingly complex health care system. Navigation programs can improve access to care, enhance coordination of care, and overcome barriers to timely, high-quality health care. However, few data exist regarding the financial implications of implementing a lay navigation program. Objective To examine the influence of lay navigation on health care spending and resource use among geriatric patients with cancer within The University of Alabama at Birmingham Health System Cancer Community Network. Design, Setting, and Participants This observational study from January 1, 2012, through December 31, 2015, used propensity score–matched regression analysis to compare quarterly changes in the mean total Medicare costs and resource use between navigated patients and nonnavigated, matched comparison patients. The setting was The University of Alabama at Birmingham Health System Cancer Community Network, which includes 2 academic and 10 community cancer centers across Alabama, Georgia, Florida, Mississippi, and Tennessee. Participants were Medicare beneficiaries with cancer who received care at participating institutions from 2012 through 2015. Exposures The primary exposure was contact with a patient navigator. Navigated patients were matched to nonnavigated patients on age, race, sex, cancer acuity (high vs low), comorbidity score, and preenrollment characteristics (costs, emergency department visits, hospitalizations, intensive care unit admissions, and chemotherapy in the preenrollment quarter). Main Outcomes and Measures Total costs to Medicare, components of cost, and resource use (emergency department visits, hospitalizations, and intensive care unit admissions). Results In total, 12 428 patients (mean (SD) age at cancer diagnosis, 75 (7) years; 52.0% female) were propensity score matched, including 6214 patients in the navigated group and 6214 patients in the matched nonnavigated comparison group. Compared with the matched comparison group, the mean total costs declined by

Relationships among symptoms, psychosocial factors, and health-related quality of life in hematopoietic stem cell transplant survivors

781.29 more per quarter per navigated patient (&bgr; = −781.29, SE = 45.77, P < .001), for an estimated

How much do cancer-related symptoms contribute to health-related quality of life in lung and colorectal cancer patients? A report from the Cancer Care Outcomes Research and Surveillance (CanCORS) Consortium

19 million decline per year across the network. Inpatient and outpatient costs had the largest between-group quarterly declines, at

Comparison of 4 Pediatric Health-Related Quality-of-Life Instruments: A Study on a Medicaid Population.

294 and

Choosing Wisely: Opportunities for Improving Value in Cancer Care Delivery?

275, respectively, per patient. Emergency department visits, hospitalizations, and intensive care unit admissions decreased by 6.0%, 7.9%, and 10.6%, respectively, per quarter in navigated patients compared with matched comparison patients (P < .001). Conclusions and Relevance Costs to Medicare and health care use from 2012 through 2015 declined significantly for navigated patients compared with matched comparison patients. Lay navigation programs should be expanded as health systems transition to value-based health care.

Treatment summaries and follow-up care instructions for cancer survivors: Improving survivor self-efficacy and health care utilization

PurposeThe study aims to evaluate the mediating effect of depressive symptoms on the relationship between physical symptoms and health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT) survivors and to test a conceptual model of psychosocial factors, in addition to physical and psychological symptoms, that might contribute to HRQOL.MethodsThis is a secondary data analysis using HSCT survivors (N = 662) identified from the Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research. Data were collected through mail and phone surveys and medical records. We used structural equation modeling to test the mediating role of depressive symptoms on the relationship of physical symptoms with HRQOL. We also tested comprehensive pathways from physical symptoms to HRQOL by adding psychosocial factors (optimism, coping, and social constraints).ResultsIn the depressive symptom mediation analyses, physical symptoms had a stronger direct effect on physical HRQOL (b = −0.98, p < 0.001) than depressive symptoms (b = 0.23, p > 0.05). Depressive symptoms were associated with mental HRQOL and mediated the relationship between physical symptoms and mental HRQOL. In comprehensive pathways, physical symptoms remained the most significant factor associated with physical HRQOL. In contrast, depressive symptoms had direct effects (b = −0.76, p < 0.001) on mental HRQOL and were a significant mediator. Psychosocial factors were directly associated with mental HRQOL and indirectly associated with mental HRQOL through depressive symptoms.ConclusionPhysical symptoms are most strongly associated with physical HRQOL, while depressive symptoms and psychosocial factors impact mental HRQOL more than physical HRQOL. Interventions addressing psychosocial factors as well as symptoms may improve the HRQOL of HSCT survivors.

The Childhood Cancer Survivor Study-Neurocognitive Questionnaire (CCSS-NCQ) Revised: Item Response Analysis and Concurrent Validity

The objective of this study was to examine associations of symptoms with physical and mental health‐related quality of life (HRQOL) in patients with colorectal cancer (CRC) and in patients with lung cancer.