Psychological symptoms of cancer survivors during the COVID-19 outbreak: a longitudinal study.

Han, Jing; Zhou, Fang; Zhang, Li; Su, Yali; Mao, Lijun

OBJECTIVE Due to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, self-isolation at home was adopted to control the spread of COVID-19 in China for three months from January 29, 2020. The psychological status of cancer survivors is affected by their social environment. In this study, we investigated the psychological status and psychological symptoms of Chinese cancer survivors. METHODS A longitudinal study design was adopted, and an online sample of cancer survivors was successfully recruited via the internet communities of cancer support groups. From February 14 to May 25, 111 cancer survivor families completed the symptom checklist 90 (SCL-90) online three times (T1: February 14 to 24; T2: April 1 to 10; T3: May 15 to 25). RESULTS For survivors and their family members, the mean total score of the SCL-90 was 172.05 (13.30) and 142.76 (26.80) at T1, 155.91 (12.18) and 133.42 (15.93) at T2, and 142.75 (11.56) and 130.14 (14.16) at T3, respectively. The SCL-90 scores of cancer survivors were significantly higher than those of family members and Chinese norms at T1, T2, and T3. Nine psychological symptoms of the SCL-90 in cancer survivors significantly declined from T1 to T2 and T3. CONCLUSIONS The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant adverse impact on cancer survivors and their families. Psychological assistance should be provided to cancer survivors. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.