Socioeconomic Consequences and Mental Health Outcomes in Parents and Siblings of Childhood Cancer Survivors

Little attention has been paid to the parents and siblings of childhood cancer survivors although childhood cancer may cause significant trauma to the entire family. In this project, we will: explore the subsequent socioeconomic and mental health outcomes among parents and siblings, examine whether the potential effect on the study outcomes varies by the clinical characteristics of the childhood cancer, and examine whether the potentially adverse socioeconomic and mental health outcomes in the parents will affect the health and survival of the child. For this purpose, we will use several Swedish national registries assembled at the Center for Primary Health Care at Lund university in this international collaboration. Socioeconomic outcomes, such as disposable income, unemployment, and education status come from the Total Population Register. Health outcomes come from, e.g., the National Patient Register and primary health care clinical diagnoses from almost all regions in Sweden. The Cox regression models will be stratified by gender and adjusted for major individual- and family-level confounding factors. This project is highly relevant because the number of childhood cancer survivors is increasing and, subsequently, their family members. The results may be used for better patient and familial counselling, long-term patient care, as well as the initiation of timely social support and interventions.