How Self-Reported Disability and Functional Limitations Influence Older, Adult Long-Term Cancer Survivors’ Body Satisfaction and Continuity of Self Holly T. Renzhofer, M.A., Gary T. Deimling, Ph.D., Sherri P. Brown, M.S. and Cory E. Cronin, M.H.A. Department of Sociology Case Western Reserve University Cancer Survivor’s Research Project Funded by the National Cancer Institute, R01-CA-78975 Presented at the 35 th Annual Ohio Professional and Student Conference on Aging, Columbus, Ohio, April15, 2011
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Holly T. Renzhofer, M.A., Gary T. Deimling, Ph.D., Sherri P. Brown, M.S.
How Self-Reported Disability and Functional Limitations Influence Older, Adult Long-Term Cancer Survivors’ Body Satisfaction and Continuity of Self. Holly T. Renzhofer, M.A., Gary T. Deimling, Ph.D., Sherri P. Brown, M.S. and Cory E. Cronin, M.H.A. Department of Sociology - PowerPoint PPT Presentation
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How Self-Reported Disability and Functional Limitations Influence Older, Adult Long-Term
Cancer Survivors’ Body Satisfaction and Continuity of Self
Holly T. Renzhofer, M.A., Gary T. Deimling, Ph.D., Sherri P. Brown, M.S.
and Cory E. Cronin, M.H.A. Department of Sociology
Case Western Reserve University
Cancer Survivor’s Research ProjectFunded by the National Cancer Institute, R01-CA-78975
Presented at the 35th Annual Ohio Professional and Student Conference on Aging, Columbus, Ohio, April15, 2011
Goal of Study
• To examine the association of cancer survivors’ reports of disability and functional limitations with body satisfaction, continuity of self and health-related stigma in older long-term adult cancer survivors.
Introduction
• “The increased prevalence of limitations in long-term survivors was not linked to one cancer site or stage at diagnosis, but rather seemed to be a general phenomenon” (Sweeny et al 2006: 528).
• Cancer is an important cause of disability (Hewitt et al. 2003).
• “Disability among cancer survivors appears to be most pronounced in the area of physical functioning” (Hewitt et al. 2003: 86).
• The accuracy of self-reported disability is the same for both men and women (Merrill et al. 1997).
Introduction
• Some patients my feel “stigmatised, ashamed, depressed, anxious and angry” about their disease experience (Else-Quest et al. 2009: 962)
• Body image dissatisfaction is a frequent side effect of both cancer and its treatment (DeFrank et al. 2007).
• Self-continuity plays an important role, and alienation may result when survivors are unable to establish a sense of self continuity (Little et al. 2002).
Research Questions
• If survivors have a greater number of functional limitations, are they more likely to have lower body satisfaction, lower continuity of self, and higher levels of stigma?
• If survivors consider themselves disabled, are they more likely to have lower body satisfaction, lower continuity of self, and a higher level of stigma?
Sample
• Longitudinal study (6 waves)
• Sample of 321 cancer survivors– randomly selected from a tumor registry in Cleveland, OH– survivors of breast, colorectal, or prostate cancer – aged 60+ years– diagnosed a minimum of five years, at study enrollment
– 59.2% female and 40.8% male– 37.7% African American and 62.3% Whites– 41.4% breast cancer, 29.9% colorectal cancer, and 28.7%
prostate cancer
Measures• Functional Difficulty
– Nagi (1976) Activities Scale – Range = 0-25
• Perceived Disability– Single-item, ECRC Burden of Disability Scale– Range = 0-4
• Stigma– Single-item, ECRC Burden of Disability Scale– Range = 0-4
• Body Satisfaction – Single-item– Range = 0-4
• Self-Continuity– 2-item scale (alpha = .64)– Range = 2-10
Functional Difficulties
Perceived Disability
*The items much and very much were combined
Perceived Stigma
Body Satisfaction
Continuity of Self
*Cancer survivors who reported neither agree or disagree were excluded in the above bar chart