title: Fear of recurrence and its impact on quality of life in patients with hematological cancers in the course of allogeneic hematopoietic SCT.
abstract: We examined the course and the prevalence of a high fear of cancer recurrence (FCR) in patients undergoing allogeneic PBSC transplantation (hematopoietic SCT (HSCT)) before HSCT (N=239), 100 days after (n=150, and 12 months after allogeneic HSCT (n=102). The Fear of Progression Questionnaire-Short Form (FoP-Q-SF), the EORTC Quality of Life Questionnaire, and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale were used. Pre-HSCT 36% of patients, 100 days after HSCT 24% of patients, and 1 year after HSCT 23% of patients fulfilled the criteria for high FCR (FoP-Q-SF cutoff=34). Being married (b=2.76, P=0.026), female gender (b=4.45, P<0.001) and depression (b=4.44, P<0.001) were significantly associated with FCR at baseline. One hundred days after HSCT, depression significantly predicted FCR (b=6.46, P<0.001). One year following HSCT, female gender (b=6.61, P=0.008) and higher depression were (b=4.88, P=0.004) significant predictors for FCR. Over the three assessment points, patients with high FCR had a significantly lower quality of life compared to patients with low FCR in physical functioning (P=0.019), role functioning (P=0.003), emotional functioning (P<0.001), cognitive functioning (P=0.003), social functioning (P<0.001) and global quality of life (P<0.001). Our data provide evidence that FCR is a prevalent problem in patients with hematological malignancies and has a significant adverse impact on health-related quality of life.
authors.affiliation: 1] Department and Outpatient Clinic of Medical Psychology, Center of Psychosocial Medicine, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany [2] Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Medical Center Charité Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sarkar
authors.affiliation: Department and Outpatient Clinic of Medical Psychology, Center of Psychosocial Medicine, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Scherwath
authors.affiliation: Department and Outpatient Clinic of Medical Psychology, Center of Psychosocial Medicine, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Schirmer
authors.affiliation: Department and Outpatient Clinic of Medical Psychology, Center of Psychosocial Medicine, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Schulz-Kindermann
authors.affiliation: Institutes for Biostatistics and Clinical Epidemiology, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Neumann
authors.affiliation: Department of Hematology, Hemostasis, Oncology and Stem Cell Transplantation, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kruse
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, Klinikum rechts der Isar, Technische Universität München, Munich, Germany.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Dinkel
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Psychology and Medical Sociology, University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus, Technical University of Dresden, Dresden, Germany.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kunze
authors.affiliation: Department of Stem Cell Transplantation, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Balck
authors.affiliation: Department of Stem Cell Transplantation, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany.
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kröger
authors.affiliation: Deanery, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany.
authors.forename: U
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Koch
authors.affiliation: Division of Psychosocial Oncology, Department of Medical Psychology and Medical Sociology, University Medical Center Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mehnert
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D019337:Hematologic Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy*; D018380:Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local / Q000473:pathology; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011788:Quality of Life; D019172:Transplantation Conditioning / Q000379:methods*; D014184:Transplantation, Homologous; D055815:Young Adult