Healthcare services and medication use among cancer survivors and their partners: a cross-sectional analysis of 16 Europ
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Healthcare services and medication use among cancer survivors and their partners: a cross-sectional analysis of 16 European countries Ana Rute Costa 1 & Luís Alves 2,3 & Nuno Lunet 1,4 Received: 9 September 2019 / Accepted: 16 April 2020 # Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2020
Abstract Purpose To estimate the association between a cancer diagnosis and the use of healthcare services and medication among cancer survivors (CS) and their partners (PCS), particularly in the first years after diagnosis. Methods This is a cross-sectional study based on data from the Fourth Wave of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe—SHARE (2010–2011); it included individuals aged ≥ 50 years and their partners, from 16 European countries. All CS diagnosed with a first primary cancer within 10 years (n = 1174) and corresponding PCS (n = 1174) were country-, sex-, age- and education-matched (1:3) with non-cancer individuals (NC) and partners of non-cancer individuals (PNC), respectively. Adjusted odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs) were computed. Results Healthcare use in the previous 12 months and current medication intake were more frequent among CS than NC; the ORs (95% CIs) were 2.56 (2.23–2.94) for ≥ 8 medical contacts, 3.07 (2.62–3.59) for hospital stays and 1.75 (1.52–2.03) for use of ≥ 3 drugs indicated for different health problems. Medical contacts (OR = 5.74, 95% CI 4.31–7.65) and hospitals stays (OR = 13.88, 95% CI 10.15–18.98) were more frequent among CS diagnosed in the last 2 years. Contacts with medical doctors (≥ 8; OR = 1.23, 95% CI 1.06–1.42) were also more common among PCS than PNC. Conclusion When compared to individuals without cancer, CS diagnosed in the last 10 years, as well as their partners, had an increased healthcare use. Implication for Cancer Survivors These findings highlight the importance of family-focused care in oncological settings, in order to support patients as well as their partners, who are frequently their closest significant person. Keywords Neoplasms . Cancer survivors . Family . Healthcare surveys
Introduction Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (https://doi.org/10.1007/s11764-020-00886-8) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. * Nuno Lunet [email protected] 1
EPIUnit—Instituto de Saúde Pública, Universidade do Porto, Rua das Taipas no. 135, 4050-600 Porto, Portugal
2
Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas Abel Salazar (ICBAS), Universidade do Porto, Rua de Jorge Viterbo Ferreira no. 228, 4050-313 Porto, Portugal
3
USF St. André de Canidelo, ACES Grande Porto Gaia VII, ARS Norte, R. das Fábricas 282, 4400-712 Vila Nova de Gaia, Portugal
4
Departamento de Ciências da Saúde Pública e Forenses e Educação Médica, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade do Porto, Alameda Prof. Hernâni Monteiro, 4200-319 Porto, Portugal
The absolute number of new cases of cancer has been dramatically increasing in the last few years [1], mainly due to the growth and ageing of the populat
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