The impact of neighborhood disadvantage on health-related quality of life among African American and white cancer survivors

Advances in cancer early-detection screening and treatment have contributed to an overall increase in national cancer survivorship rates. Currently, there are an estimated 15.5 million cancer survivors living in the United States (1). Among cancer survivors, quality of life (QOL) represents an important indicator of functioning and well-being. Health-related QOL is defined as the degree to which one’s physical, emotional, social, and spiritual well-being are impacted by an illness and its treatment (2,3). Previous evidence-based studies have found that individual sociodemographic (e.g., age, gender, education, race/ethnicity, income, marital status) (2,4-8) and clinical factors (e.g., age at diagnosis, medical comorbidities, time of cancer diagnosis, cancer stage) (4,9,10) are significant predictors of QOL in cancer survivors