Background
Adult survivors of childhood cancer adhere poorly to recommended medical surveillance. We sought to identify modifiable factors that contribute to non‐adherence.
Methods
Latent class analysis categorized survivors (ages 18–52 years) at risk of cardiac, breast, or bone late sequelae on the basis of their health‐related concerns, fears, and motivation. These classifications were compared at two time points for self‐reported adherence to recommended echocardiography, mammography, and bone densitometry screening.
Results
Three classes (worried, collaborative, and self‐controlling) characterized survivors in each of the three risk groups: cardiac (N = 564; Bayesian information criterion [BIC] = 10,824.66; Lo–Mendell–Rubin parametric likelihood ratio test [LRMLRT] P = .002), breast (N = 584; BIC = 11,779.97; LRMLRT P < .001), and bone (N = 613; BIC = 11,773.56; LMRLRT P = .028). Only 9% of at‐risk survivors in the self‐controlling class reported undergoing bone density screening in 2005, compared with 17.2% in the collaborative class (P = .034). Thirteen percent of the self‐controlling, 24% of collaborative (P = .025), and 34% of worried (P = .010) classes reported undergoing bone densitometry in 2009. Whereas 73% of at‐risk survivors in the worried class reported having had an echocardiogram in 2009, only 57% of the collaborative (P = .040) and 43% of self‐controlling (P < .001) classes did. In 2005 and 2009, respectively, fewer survivors in the self‐controlling class (37% and 53%) than in the collaborative (51%, P = .038 and 70%, P = .01) and worried (58%, P = .002 and 69%, P = .025) classes reported undergoing mammograms.
Conclusions
Modifiable intrapersonal characteristics associated with these three classes predict self‐reported participation in medical surveillance. Continued observation and validation of these survivor profiles may inform tailored interventions to enhance survivors' screening participation. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.