Health behavior profiles in young survivors of childhood cancer: Findings from the St. Jude Lifetime Cohort Study.

BACKGROUND: There is limited understanding of associations between a combination of health behaviors (physical activity, sedentary/screen-time, diet) and cardiometabolic health risk factors, physical performance, and emotional health among young (<18) childhood cancer survivors (CCS). The aims of this research were to address this gap by 1) deriving health behavior adherence profiles among CCS, and 2) examining associations among demographic, diagnosis and/or treatment exposures, cardiometabolic, physical performance, and emotional functioning with health behavior profile membership. METHODS: Participants included 397 CCS (≥5 years post-diagnosis; 10-17 years old) enrolled in the St. Jude Lifetime Cohort Study who completed physical health evaluations and questionnaires assessing health behaviors and psychological functioning. Latent profile analysis was used to derive profiles of health behavior adherence. Logistic regression and t-tests were used to examine mean-level differences and associations between profile membership with demographic, diagnosis, treatment exposures, cardiometabolic health, psychological functioning, and physical performance. RESULTS: Two profiles emerged: inactive-unhealthy-diet ("IU") and active-sedentary-unhealthy-diet ("ASU") to guidelines. More participants in IU demonstrated higher resting heart rate (mean [M], 76.54; SD = 12.00) and lower motor proficiency scores (M = 34.73; SD = 29.15) compared to ASU (resting heart rate, M = 71.95, SD = 10.74; motor proficiency, M = 50.40, SD = 31.02). CONCLUSIONS: CCS exhibited low adherence to multiple health behavior guidelines, with adherence patterns differentially associated with cardiometabolic health (i.e., resting heart rate) and physical performance. However, robust protection against all health variables was not observed. Findings suggest interventions designed to improve health outcomes should target multiple health behaviors simultaneously. PLAIN LANGUAGE SUMMARY: Pediatric cancer survivors are at-risk for detrimental health outcomes associated with cancer and treatment. Engagement in healthy lifestyle behaviors serves to reduce health vulnerabilities among adult survivors but less is known about associations with lifestyle behaviors on young survivors. This study documents patterns of lifestyle behaviors among survivors of pediatric cancer, factors that increase susceptibility to nonadherence, and associations among lifestyle behaviors and health indicators.

Feasibility pilot trial of a tailored medication adherence-promotion intervention for adolescents and young adults with cancer: Study design and protocol.

BACKGROUND: Medication non-adherence is common among adolescents and young adults (AYAs) with cancer and associated with poor health outcomes. AYAs with cancer endorse multiple barriers to adherence that differ across individuals, suggesting that tailoring intervention content to an AYA's specific barriers may have the potential to improve adherence. The purpose of this manuscript is to report on ORBIT-guided Phase I design efforts to create the first tailored adherence-promotion intervention for AYAs with cancer and the study protocol for the ongoing Phase II pilot feasibility trial. METHODS: Phase I design included qualitative interviews (n = 15 AYAs) to understand patient preferences for adherence-promotion care, development and refinement of a best-worst scaling exercise barriers tool (n = 5 AYAs), and development of intervention modules and a tailoring algorithm. In the ongoing Phase II pilot feasibility trial, AYAs (ages 15-24 years) with cancer currently taking oral chemotherapy or prophylactic medication will be recruited from three children's hospitals. Feasibility, acceptability, and usability will be assessed and these outcomes along with data on medication adherence will be used to inform the next phases of intervention development and testing. CONCLUSIONS: If promising, this program of research ultimately has the potential to equip clinicians with additional strategies for supporting adherence among AYAs with cancer. NCT05706610.

A joint international consensus statement for measuring quality of survival for patients with childhood cancer.

The aim of treating childhood cancer remains to cure all. As survival rates improve, long-term health outcomes increasingly define quality of care. The International Childhood Cancer Outcome Project developed a set of core outcomes for most types of childhood cancers involving relevant international stakeholders (survivors; pediatric oncologists; other medical, nursing or paramedical care providers; and psychosocial or neurocognitive care providers) to allow outcome-based evaluation of childhood cancer care. A survey among healthcare providers (n = 87) and online focus groups of survivors (n = 22) resulted in unique candidate outcome lists for 17 types of childhood cancer (five hematological malignancies, four central nervous system tumors and eight solid tumors). In a two-round Delphi survey, 435 healthcare providers from 68 institutions internationally (response rates for round 1, 70-97%; round 2, 65-92%) contributed to the selection of four to eight physical core outcomes (for example, heart failure, subfertility and subsequent neoplasms) and three aspects of quality of life (physical, psychosocial and neurocognitive) per pediatric cancer subtype. Measurement instruments for the core outcomes consist of medical record abstraction, questionnaires and linkage with existing registries. This International Childhood Cancer Core Outcome Set represents outcomes of value to patients, survivors and healthcare providers and can be used to measure institutional progress and benchmark against peers.