FLOURISHING DESPITE A CANCER DIAGNOSIS: FINDINGS FROM A NATIONALLY REPRESENTATIVE STUDY

摘要

This study investigated the association between cancer and complete mental health (CMH). CMH has three elements: 1) absence of mental illness, addictions and suicidal thoughts in the past year; 2) almost daily happiness or life satisfaction in the past month; 3) psychosocial well-being. Control variables included socio-demographics, health behaviours, current physical health and lifetime history of mental illness and childhood maltreatment. The nationally representative 2012 Canadian Community Health Survey-Mental Health was analyzed. This study used bivariate and logistic regression analyses to estimate the odds ratios of CMH among community dwellers aged 50 and older with current cancer (n=438), previous cancer (n=1,174) and no cancer history (n=9,279). Our analyses suggested that adults aged 50 and over with current cancer had a much lower prevalence of CMH (66.1%) than those with previous cancer (77.5%) and those with no cancer history (76.8%). After adjusting for 17 variables, the odds of CMH among those with current cancer remained substantially lower (OR=0.63; 95% CI=0.49–0.79) than those without cancer. Among those who had ever had cancer, the odds of CMH were higher for female, White, married, and older respondents, as well as those with higher socioeconomic status, and no history of childhood physical abuse, substance abuse, depression or anxiety disorder. These findings have a hopeful message for patients and clinicians. Two-thirds of current cancer patients have CMH. Former cancer patients are comparable to those without a cancer history, suggesting substantial resilience.