Exploratory study of impact of cancer-related posttraumatic stress symptoms on diabetes self-management among cancer survivors

Janey James, Yael T. Harris, Ian M. Kronish, Juan P. Wisnivesky, Jenny J. Lin

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

15 Scopus citations

Abstract

Objective: Posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) can be triggered by a diagnosis of a potentially life-threatening illness such as cancer. Little is known about the impact of cancer-related PTSS symptoms on self-management behaviors for comorbid chronic medical conditions such as diabetes mellitus (DM). Methods: We recruited patients with DM and a recent diagnosis of early-stage cancer from 2 medical centers in New York City. Cancer-related PTSS were assessed using the Impact of Events Scale (score ≥ 26). DM self-management behaviors (medication adherence, exercise, healthy diet, and glucose testing) were measured 3 months later. Logistic regression was used to assess the association between cancer-related PTSS symptoms and DM self-management behaviors, adjusting for gender, marital status, and anxiety symptoms. Results: Of 56 participants recruited, 33% reported cancer-related PTSS symptoms. Elevated cancer-related PTSS symptoms were associated with lack of healthy diet (odds ratio: 0.08, 95% confidence interval: 0.01–0.62). Conclusions: Early-stage cancer survivors with cancer-related PTSS symptoms were less likely to adhere to some DM self-management behaviors. Providers should recognize the impact of cancer-related PTSS symptoms to better support comorbid disease management in cancer survivors.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)648-653
Number of pages6
JournalPsycho-Oncology
Volume27
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - Feb 2018

Keywords

  • PTSD
  • cancer
  • diabetes
  • medication adherence
  • self-management behaviors

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