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Group‐based trajectory modeling of fear of disease recurrence among women recently diagnosed with gynecological cancers
Author(s) -
Manne Sharon L.,
MyersVirtue Shan,
Kissane David,
Ozga Melissa L.,
Kashy Deborah A.,
Rubin Stephen C.,
Rosenblum Norman G.,
Heckman Carolyn J.
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
psycho‐oncology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.41
H-Index - 137
eISSN - 1099-1611
pISSN - 1057-9249
DOI - 10.1002/pon.4223
Subject(s) - coping (psychology) , worry , psychological intervention , distress , social support , medicine , anxiety , disease , clinical psychology , randomized controlled trial , structural equation modeling , psychiatry , psychology , psychotherapist , statistics , mathematics
Abstract Objective Fear of cancer recurrence is an important clinical phenomenon and is associated with decrements in life domains. The study goals were to characterize patterns of global fear of recurrence (FOR) and 4 domains of fear (health, role, womanhood, and death worry) over time in women who were diagnosed with gynecological cancer and to identify demographic, medical, and psychological predictors of FOR. Method One hundred eighteen women participating in the usual care arm of a randomized trial completed the Concerns about Recurrence scale as well as measures of depressive symptoms, cancer‐specific distress, coping, coping efficacy, and social network responses at 4 time points. The majority of the sample was diagnosed with stage 3 ovarian cancer. Results Group‐based trajectory modeling identified subgroups of women with high‐stable (49.1%), high‐decreasing (25.3%), and low‐stable (25.5%) trajectories for global FOR. For role worries, 3 similar group trajectories were identified. For health worries, modeling identified subgroups with high‐decreasing (19.1%) and low‐increasing (80.9%) trajectories. For womanhood worries, modeling identified subgroups with high‐increasing (15.7%) and low‐decreasing (84.2%) trajectories. Young age, metastatic cancer, depression, cancer distress, holding back, and lower coping efficacy were associated with the high‐stable global FOR and at least 1 domain of FOR. Conclusion Almost half of the women recently diagnosed with gynecological cancer evidence persistently elevated FOR over the 6‐month period postdiagnosis. Psychological interventions to reduce FOR may be more effective if they focus on teaching patients coping skills, as well as greater comfort expressing cancer‐specific concerns to others.