Chronic disease

Cancer Survivorship Survey – Fribourg

The Cancer Survivor Survey – Fribourg (CSS-Fri) is a cross-sectional survey to summarize the most frequent cancer related symptoms and problems perceived by study participants one to five and five to ten years after the diagnosis, measured by a questionnaire. We analyzed the data descriptively and explored predictive factors related to long-term and late symptoms and/or problems.

The objective of this study is to

To describe the prevalence of self-reported cancer-related symptoms or problems reported by residents treated or still followed for cancer in the canton Fribourg.
To define predictive factors for supportive care needs and duration of return to work or family duties caused by cancer or treatment long-term / delayed effects.
To inform a future survivorship program and to identify relevant patient-reported outcomes to evaluate its impact on cancer survivors’ daily lives.

A cancer diagnosis and its treatment can have long-term effects and may affect day-to-day life even years after treatment has finished. People who survive cancer are called cancer survivors. Our study looked at what cancer survivors experience as symptoms and problems up to ten years after their diagnosis. Our aim was to describe these symptoms and problems experienced up to ten years after a cancer diagnosis. We also looked at factors associated with long-term problems.

We included participants who have been diagnosed with breast, colorectal, lung or prostate cancer, or lymphoma or myeloma. They must have been treated in Canton Fribourg at one of the hospital sites linked to Fribourg Cantonal Hospital (HFR). They also needed to understand written French or German to complete the questionnaires. People who took part in the study got study information and a questionnaire by postal mail. They could fill in the questionnaires online or on paper.

We used the National Comprehensive Cancer Network patient assessment questionnaire to assess long-term problems and the Self-Administered Comorbidity questionnaire. Overall, participants answered 52 questions, which took about 20 minutes to complete. Questions were related to physical symptoms (e.g. breathing, skin alterations, pain, fatigue), emotional symptoms (e.g. stress, depressive mood), financial challenges, return to work, healthy behaviors, and comorbidities such as cardiovascular diseases, high blood pressure, diabetes, arthritis, or other common chronic conditions. Study collaborators collected information from medical records exploring details related to cancer diagnosis, complications during initial treatment, and further participant characteristics. The study results show how frequent cancer-related long-term symptoms are, and how severe they are respectively one to five and five to ten years after diagnosis.

Currently, we are preparing to publish our results.