The Psychological Consequences of the COVID-19 Pandemic in Adults Treated for Childhood Cancer

Curr Oncol. 2022 Jun 6;29(6):4104-4116. doi: 10.3390/curroncol29060327.

Abstract

Background: Compared with the general population, childhood cancer survivors (CCS) could be at greater risk of psychological distress following the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Purpose: This cross-sectional study assessed the psychological consequences of COVID-19 on the mental health of CCS.

Design and participants: In December 2020, we interviewed through an online self-report questionnaire, 580 5-year CCS participating in the French Childhood Cancer Survivor Study (FCCSS) cohort.

Methods: We first compared the mental health score of CCS with that observed in the French general population of the same age and gender. Subsequently, we studied predictors of the mental health score of CCS.

Results: External comparisons revealed that the mental health score of CCS was similar to that of the general population. Among CCS, almost 42% stated that their psychological state had been worse during the lockdown. Predictors of poorer mental health included, among others, female gender, reporting a change in the occupational situation, having a relative who had been hospitalized or had died following COVID-19, and a greater perceived infection risk.

Interpretation and implications: Given the pre-existing vulnerability of some CCS to mental distress, the additional psychological consequences of COVID-19 in vulnerable survivors should receive attention from health care providers.

Keywords: COVID-19; childhood cancer survivors; consequences; lockdown; mental health; psychosocial; survivorship.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • COVID-19* / epidemiology
  • Child
  • Communicable Disease Control
  • Cross-Sectional Studies
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Neoplasms* / psychology
  • Neoplasms* / therapy
  • Pandemics

Grants and funding

This study was supported by the ARC foundation (CONSECO project). The FCCSS cohort is supported by the Gustave Roussy Foundation (Pediatric Program “Guérir le Cancer de l’enfant”). These foundations had no role in the design and conduct of the study; in the collection, management, analysis, and interpretation of the data; or in the preparation, review, and approval of the manuscript.