Emotional distress among survivors of adolescent and young adult cancer or adult cancer

Purpose: We examined emotional distress in cancer survivors diagnosed as adolescents or young adults (AYAs) versus cancer survivors diagnosed as middle/older adults and versus the general population without a history of cancer. Methods: Using the 2014-2017 National Health Interview Surveys, 2500 AYA survivors (initial cancer diagnosed between aged 15-39 years) were matched with 2500 middle/older adult survivors (initial cancer diagnosed at aged >= 40 years) as well as with 1609 from the general population without a history of cancer. Multinomial logistic regression models estimated the risk of emotional distress (measured using the validated Kessler distress (K6) scale) in the study population (AYA vs. middle/older adult cancer survivors and vs. general population without cancer), adjusting for known covariates. Results: Emotional distress was more prevalent among AYAs (average age 52.8 +/- 19.1 years) than middle/older adult (average age 67.4 +/- 14.0 years) cancer survivors (moderate: 25.5% vs. 19.4%; and severe: 6.4% vs. 4.4% [P < .0001]); however, there was no difference in emotional distress between AYA cancer survivors (moderate: 26.8% and severe: 7.5%) versus general population without cancer (moderate: 23.7% and severe: 6.2%). In the multivariable multinomial analyses, AYA cancer survivors had higher risk of reporting emotional distress (adjusted relative risk = 1.45; 95% confidence interval = 1.13-1.86) than middle/older adult cancer survivors. Conclusion: Psychosocial support may be especially needed for cancer survivors diagnosed as adolescents or young adults to mitigate adverse psychosocial outcomes. (C) 2022 Published by Elsevier Inc.