The impact of a cancer diagnosis on health and well-being: a prospective, population-based study

Abstract

Objective: Little is known about the trajectory of health and well-being from before to after a cancer diagnosis. This study aimed to examine changes in health and well-being across three time points (0–2 years before a cancer diagnosis, 0–2 years post-diagnosis and 2–4 years post-diagnosis) in individuals receiving a new cancer diagnosis, and at matched time points in a cancer-free comparison group. Methods: Data were from waves 1–6 of the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing. Repeated-measures ANOVAs were used to examine differences in self-rated health, mobility impairments, activities of daily living impairments, quality of life, depressive symptoms and life satisfaction by group and time, and group-by-time interactions. Results: Of the 4565 participants with data from three time points, 444 (9.7%) reported a new cancer diagnosis. Those in the cancer group reported poorer self-rated health (p