Socioeconomic Status and Chronic Health Conditions in Asian Survivors of Adolescent and Young Adult Cancers

Psychological distress and mental health care utilization among Black survivors of adolescent and young adult cancer

“…We included several self-reported independent variables in the analysis: (1) age at the time of survey completion (18-39 or 40-64 years), (2) self-reported sex (male or female), (3) marital status (married/living with a partner, divorced/separated/widowed, or never married), (4) education (some college or less or Bachelor's degree or higher), (5) poverty level, defined by the ratio of family income to the poverty threshold set by the US Census Bureau for the year (<100% [high poverty], 100%-199% [middle poverty], or ≥200% [low poverty]), (6) insurance status (uninsured, public, or private), (7) number of self-reported chronic health conditions, including arthritis, cardiovascular disease, pulmonary disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, liver disease, and cerebral stroke (none, one, two, or more), (8) alcohol use (lifetime abstainer, former drinker, or current drinker), and (9) cigarette smoking (never smoker, former smoker, or current smoker).…”

“…Survivors from minoritized racial or ethnic groups are at higher risk of adverse long-term outcomes after cancer treatment as an AYA. [4][5][6][7][8] Previous studies assessing racial and ethnic disparities in mental health outcomes within a population of AYA cancer survivors have largely made comparisons between non-Hispanic White survivors and racially or ethnically minoritized groups. Although significant differences in self-reported mental health including psychological distress have not been found between non-Hispanic Black or African American (hereafter, Black) survivors and non-Hispanic White survivors, 2,9,10 Black survivors are more likely than non-Hispanic White survivors to report unmet mental health service needs.…”

Resilience in adolescent and young adult oncology: Problems and prospects

“…A key limitation of the scholarship to date, however, is that it has insufficiently recognized the chronic burdens of stress (and the corresponding additional demands for resilience) among marginalized populations of AYAs (Table 1). 2–15 Indeed, AYAs who identify as members of minoritized groups are at disproportionately greater risk of adverse outcomes, including higher mortality, increased risk of chronic health conditions, and poorer health‐related quality of life compared with non‐Hispanic White populations 16–18 and compared with AYAs of the same race or ethnicity who do not have a history of cancer 19–21 …”

“…[2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15] Indeed, AYAs who identify as members of minoritized groups are at disproportionately greater risk of adverse outcomes, including higher mortality, increased risk of chronic health conditions, and poorer health-related quality of life compared with non-Hispanic White populations [16][17][18] and compared with AYAs of the same race or ethnicity who do not have a history of cancer. [19][20][21] The reasons for these disparities are many. Inequities in access to care and insurance status, for example, adversely affect the timeliness and quality of cancer diagnosis and treatment.…”