title: Does fear of cancer recurrence differ between cancer types? A study from the population-based PROFILES registry.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Knowledge of factors associated with fear of cancer recurrence (FCR) may inform intervention development and improve patient care. The aims were (1) to compare FCR severity between cancer types and (2) to identify associations between FCR, demographics, medical characteristics, information provision and health-related quality of life.
  
  
  METHODS
  Cross-sectional data were obtained from the Patient Reported Outcomes Following Initial Treatment and Long-Term Evaluation of Survivorship registry. We included stage I and II survivors diagnosed with melanoma (n = 469), colorectal cancer (n = 861), endometrial cancer (n = 688), thyroid cancer (n = 218), Hodgkin (n = 103) and non-Hodgkin lymphoma (n = 276). Cancer survivors completed questionnaires on FCR (Impact of Cancer scale - Health Worries subscale), satisfaction with information provision (European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer, Quality of Life Questionnaire (EORTC-QLQ) INFO25, satisfaction scale) and health-related quality of life (EORTC-QLQ C30, Short Form 36-item).
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 2615 survivors completed the Impact of Cancer scale - Health Worries subscale. No significant differences in FCR severity were found between any of the cancer types (p = 0.063). A younger age, female gender, stage II disease, a shorter time since diagnosis, scheduled follow-up appointments and comorbidity were associated with higher FCR (p < 0.01). Satisfaction with information provision was negatively correlated with FCR severity (r = -0.16, p < 0.05). Demographic and medical factors accounted for 6% of explained variance in FCR. The full model, also including health-related quality of life, explained 15% and 19%, respectively.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Fear of cancer recurrence seems to be a universal concern of cancer survivors rather than a cancer type-specific problem. Gender, age and medical factors were identified as risk factors. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Psychology, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Marieke
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: van de Wal
authors.affiliation: Eindhoven Cancer Registry, Comprehensive Cancer Center Netherlands, Eindhoven, The Netherlands.|Centre of Research on Psychology in Somatic Diseases (CoRPS), Tilburg University, Tilburg, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Lonneke
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: van de Poll-Franse
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Psychology, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Judith
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Prins
authors.affiliation: Expert Centre Chronic Fatigue, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Marieke
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gielissen
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001007:Anxiety; D015179:Colorectal Neoplasms / Q000523:psychology; D015897:Comorbidity; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D016889:Endometrial Neoplasms / Q000523:psychology; D005239:Fear; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008228:Lymphoma, Non-Hodgkin / Q000523:psychology; D008297:Male; D008545:Melanoma / Q000523:psychology; D008875:Middle Aged; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local / Q000523:psychology*; D011788:Quality of Life / Q000523:psychology*; D012042:Registries; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D017741:Survivors / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data