Health and Well-Being in Older Married Female Cancer Survivors

OBJECTIVES To investigate differences between older married female cancer survivors and a matched comparison sample on physical health and on effects of health on depressive symptomatology. DESIGN AND SETTING National survey data from the 1992 Health and Retirement Study. PARTICIPANTS Married women who reported having been diagnosed with cancer (N=245) and married women who did not report a cancer diagnosis but who matched the survivors on age, race, and ethnicity (N=245). MEASUREMENTS Outcome measure was depressive symptomatology (modified CES-D). Predictors were multiple indicators of health and demographic characteristics. RESULTS Cancer survivors reported significantly worse health on all indicators but not higher depressive symptomatology after health and demographics were controlled. Predictors of higher depression were fatigue, pain, and lower education. These effects did not differ between groups. CONCLUSION Health impairment in cancer survivors highlights the need for ongoing follow-up care. Survivorship was associated indirectly with higher depressive symptomatology through its relationship with health impairment.