What Matters in Cancer Survivorship Research? A Suite of Stakeholder-Relevant Outcomes

The outcomes assessed in cancer survivorship research do not always match those that survivors and health system stakeholders identify as most important. This study sought to identify stakeholder-relevant outcomes pertinent to post-treatment follow-up care interventions. Stakeholders included survivors, family/friend caregivers,health care providers, and health system decision-makers. This study identified 13 stakeholder-relevant outcomes, and categorised them into five outcome domains: psychosocial (reintegration after cancer treatment; fear of cancer recurrence; anxiety), physical (fatigue; cognitive impairment; sexual health), economic (return to work; financial burden), informational (knowing what to expect; informational continuity), and patterns and quality of care (access to care; coordination of care; use of evidence-based practices). In the psychosocial domain, an individual’s reintegration after cancer treatment was described by all stakeholder groups as one of the most important challenges faced by survivors and identified as a priority outcome to address in future research. The outcomes identified in this study provide a succinct suite of stakeholder-relevant outcomes, common across cancer types and populations, that should be used in future research on cancer survivorship care. Read full text