Table_1_Health Behavior and Associated Factors in Young Adult Cancer Patients.docx

Objectives: Having cancer in young adulthood increases the risk of adverse long-term health effects. These risks can be influenced by one’s health behavior (HB). The aim of this study is therefore to investigate the presence of health behavior in adolescents and young adults (AYAs) and to identify associated factors.
Design: Young cancer patients (18–39 years old at time of diagnosis) were surveyed at baseline and 12 months later via online or as a paper-pencil version.
Methods: A spectrum of indicators for HB was assessed via seven items from the Questionnaire of Multiple Health Behavior (MHB). Multiple linear regression analyses were conducted to determine factors associated with patients’ HB indicators.
Results: Five-hundred and fourteen AYAs (75% women) reported the highest level of health-conscious behavior for “avoidance of consumption of nicotine,” “follow medical recommendations,” and “being considerate in road traffic.” Less health-conscious behavior was reported for “keeping an appropriate and balanced diet” and “physical activity.” Significant improvements from baseline to the follow-up were observed for “regularly attending health screening” (Hedges’ g = 0.44). The analyzed factors explained up to 10% of the HB indicators. Women reported significantly more health-conscious behavior than men in four out of seven HB indicators. Higher quality of life (QoL) was associated with more health behavior in three out of seven HB indicators.
Conclusion: Findings show a predominantly health-conscious lifestyle in AYA cancer patients, though we also found harmful behavior which needs to be better approached—e.g., through improving AYAs’ health education. AYA men should be particularly targeted in specific prevention and health promotion measures. Future work should identify other factors associated with HB to evaluate targets for intervention.

研究目的：青年期罹患癌症会增加长期不良健康结局的风险，此类风险可受个体健康行为（health behavior, HB）的影响。本研究旨在调查青少年与青年成人（adolescents and young adults, AYAs）的健康行为现状，并识别其相关影响因素。
研究设计：本研究通过线上或纸笔问卷形式，在基线期及随访12个月时，对确诊时年龄为18~39岁的青年癌症患者进行调查。
研究方法：本研究采用多健康行为问卷（Questionnaire of Multiple Health Behavior, MHB）中的7个条目，对健康行为的多项指标进行评估。通过多元线性回归分析，探究与患者健康行为指标相关的影响因素。
研究结果：共纳入514名青少年与青年成人癌症患者（女性占75%），参与者在「规避尼古丁摄入」「遵循医疗建议」及「道路交通中注意安全」三项行为上展现出最高水平的健康意识；而在「保持合理均衡饮食」与「规律身体活动」两项行为中，健康意识水平相对较低。从基线至随访期，「定期接受健康筛查」行为出现显著改善（Hedges’ g = 0.44）。所分析的影响因素可解释健康行为指标至多10%的变异量。在7项健康行为指标中，女性在4项上的健康意识行为显著优于男性。较高的生活质量（quality of life, QoL）与7项健康行为指标中的3项呈显著正相关。
研究结论：本研究结果显示，青少年与青年成人癌症患者整体上呈现健康意识较强的生活方式，但同时也存在部分亟待改善的不良健康行为——例如可通过强化该人群的健康教育来优化此类行为。男性青少年与青年成人癌症患者应作为特定预防与健康促进措施的重点关注对象。未来研究应进一步识别与健康行为相关的其他影响因素，以明确干预靶点。