Military service of male survivors of childhood malignancies

Compulsory military service as a measure of later physical and cognitive performance in male survivors of childhood cancer

“…It was found that only solid tumor survivors fared as well as their matched controls for the Cooper test. In the other two survivor groups, treatment with irradiation seemed to impair the results, which is in accordance with previous findings [4,15].…”

“…This impairment could be a consequence of cancer itself, the chemotherapeutic agents (e.g., vincristine) used or the survivors' low general physical activity. The results showed that the level of military training was comparable to that of the general population, which is in line with earlier findings [15]. The possibility to perform the compulsory military training may support social adjustment and coping after cancer, and according to these results, more than half of male childhood cancer survivors are able to achieve this goal.…”

“…Historically, disqualification from military service was based solely on a past cancer diagnosis, regardless of the outcome [16]. In the late 1980s [18] and also 10 years later [15], the exemption rate for Finnish cancer survivors was near 40%. Since 1991, the official requirements for entering the service have still liberalized [16].…”

“…A call-up board determines the suitability, military fitness class and placement of recruits. Exemption from military service has previously been a recommendation (before 1991) for young men with a history of cancer [15]. However, already at that time the attitudes of the call-up doctors had started to change towards more permissive statements.…”

Self-reported health-related quality of life of children and adolescent survivors of extracranial childhood malignancies: a Finnish nationwide survey

“…We believe that some cancer survivors have special needs that influence their ability to lead normal lives [17]. All survivors suffer the stigmatizing effects of having suffered through cancer, which will have an impact on such fundamental aspects of life as personal achievements and relationships [17,41]. It is very important to find out the groups of individuals who are at increased risk for health problems in order to be able to prevent or at least diminish their future problems.…”