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. 2021 Jun;68(6):e29030.
doi: 10.1002/pbc.29030. Epub 2021 Mar 31.

Cumulative burden of chronic health conditions among adolescent and young adult survivors of childhood cancer: Identification of vulnerable groups at key medical transitions

Matthew J Ehrhardt  1   2 , AnnaLynn M Williams  2 , Qi Liu  3 , Sarah Hudson Scholle  4 , Nickhill Bhakta  2   5 , Yutaka Yasui  2 , Leslie L Robison  2 , Melissa M Hudson  1   2
Affiliations

Cumulative burden of chronic health conditions among adolescent and young adult survivors of childhood cancer: Identification of vulnerable groups at key medical transitions

Matthew J Ehrhardt et al. Pediatr Blood Cancer. 2021 Jun.

Abstract

The cumulative burden of chronic health conditions as childhood cancer survivors transition to adult health care and insurance systems is unknown. We estimated the cumulative burden (N = 4612 survivors, 625 controls) in the St. Jude Lifetime Cohort. At 18 and 26 years old, survivors experienced (per 100 individuals) an average of 22.3 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 17.2-27.4) and 40.3 (95% CI: 34.8-45.8) disabling conditions versus 3.5 (95% CI: 2.0-5.0) and 5.7 (95% CI: 3.7-7.7) in controls, and 128.7 (95% CI: 119.5-137.8) and 240.5 (95% CI: 229.9-251.0) lower severity conditions versus 12.4 (95% CI: 8.9-16.0) and 51.3 (95% CI: 43.1-59.4) in controls. Survivors experience a high cumulative burden at key health care transition ages, underscoring the need to optimize access to care.

Keywords: health care transition; late effects; pediatric oncology.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest Statement

The authors have no conflicts of interest to report.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
A) Distribution of cumulative burden of higher severity, potentially disabling chronic health conditions in the St. Jude Lifetime Cohort (SJLIFE) at ages 18 and 26 years, and B) Distribution of cumulative burden of lower severity chronic health conditions in SJLIFE at ages 18 and 26 years. ALL=acute lymphoblastic leukemia, AML=acute myeloblastic leukemia, HL=Hodgkin lymphoma, NHL=non-Hodgkin lymphoma, CNS=central nervous system, STS=soft tissue sarcoma, NB=neuroblastoma, RB=retinoblastoma
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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