Fertility information needs and concerns post-treatment contribute to lowered quality of life among young adult female cancer survivors

Abstract

Cancer treatment may lead to premature menopause and infertility. Young adult female cancer survivors (YAFCS) are often concerned about their fertility and future family-building options, but research is limited on how concerns may affect more general quality of life (QOL) domains. This study examined how fertility factors relate to QOL among YAFCS who received gonadotoxic therapy.A national sample of YAFCS completed an online, anonymous survey. The survey included investigator-designed questions about perceived fertility information needs (five items; Cronbach's a?=?.83) and general QOL (four items; a?=?.89), the Reproductive Concerns after Cancer Scale (RCACS) and Decisional Conflict Scale (DCS). Analyses included Pearson's correlation, t tests, and stepwise regression.Participants (N?=?314) were an average of 30 years old (SD?=?4.1) and 5 years (SD?=?5.4) post-treatment; 31% reported being infertile and 19% had undergone fertility preservation (FP). Overall, QOL was relatively high (M?=?7.3, SD?=?1.9, range 0-10) and did not vary by fertility status (t[272]?=?.743, p?=?.46), prior FP (t[273]?=?.53, p?=?.55) or sociodemographic/clinical factors (p's?>?.05) except socioeconomic indicators (p's?

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