Partners and close family members of long-term cancer survivors: health status, psychosocial well-being and unmet supportive care needs Daniel Turner 1 , Eike Adams 1 , Mary Boulton 1 , Sian Harrison 2 , Nada Khan 2 , Peter Rose 2 , Alison Ward 2 and Eila K. Watson 1 * 1 School of Health and Social Care, Oxford Brookes University, UK 2 Department of Public Health and Primary Health Care, University of Oxford, UK *Correspondence to: School of Health and Social Care, Oxford Brookes University, Jack Straw’s Lane, Oxford, OX3 0FL, UK. E-mail: ewatson@brookes.ac.uk Received: 6 October 2010 Revised: 4 May 2011 Accepted: 4 July 2011 Abstract Background: A cancer diagnosis can have a profound impact on partners and close family members of patients. Little is currently known about the long-term impact. Objectives: The objective of this study is to describe health status, levels of anxiety and depres- sion, unmet supportive care needs and positive outcomes in the partners/family members of breast, prostate and colorectal cancer survivors 5–16 years post-diagnosis. Methods: Patients in a linked study were asked to invite a partner or other close family mem- ber to complete a self-administered postal questionnaire. Data were analysed by cancer site and time since diagnosis. Matched comparisons were made between cancer patients in the linked study and their partners. Results: An expression of interest was received from 330 partners/family members, and 257 questionnaires (77.9%) were returned. Health status and levels of anxiety and depression were comparable with population norms. Respondents reported an average of 2.7 unmet needs from 34 possible options. Hospital parking, information about familial risk, help managing fear of recurrence and coordination of care were the most cited unmet needs. There was little variation in health status, psychological morbidity and unmet needs by cancer site or time since diagnosis. Concordance between patients and partners was low for anxiety but higher with respect to positive outcomes and some unmet needs. Conclusions: Most partners/family members of long-term cancer survivors report few ongoing issues. However, a small proportion (<10%) have high levels of anxiety and/or moder- ate or strong unmet needs. Strategies for identifying this group and addressing their needs are required, while allowing the majority to resume normal life. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Keywords: cancer; oncology; partner; family; supportive care Introduction Improvements in early diagnosis, screening and treat- ments have seen substantial increases in 10-year survival rates for many cancers. Seventy-three per cent of breast cancer patients, 54% of prostate cancer patients and 45% of colorectal cancer patients now survive 10 years or more [1]. Overall, there are currently over two million cancer survivors in the UK, of whom 1.2 million were diagnosed 5 or more years ago [2,3]. However, survivor- ship research has identified that cancer impacts the physical, psychological and social well-being of patients both in the short term and longer term. Even when the cancer is successfully treated and the patient discharged, side effects from the treatment may remain [4], late effects may emerge [5] and worries about recurrence may continue for many years [6]. Cancer can also have a significant impact on partners and other family members of cancer patients [7–9]. A diagnosis of cancer can provoke stress and anxiety for the partner [10], with some studies suggesting that dis- tress [11,12] and fear of recurrence [13] may be higher in partners than in the patient, even after treatment has ended. In addition to coping with their own stress, part- ners or close family members are often the primary provider of support to the patient, with little support for or recognition of their own needs, and may experi- ence a lower quality of life [13] and substantial unmet needs [14–16]. Research also suggests that most part- ners and family members of cancer patients neverthe- less come to terms with their experience and may even experience positive effects [17,18]. In drawing comparisons between their experiences, a number of studies have reported a strong correlation between partners and cancer patients in their psycholog- ical adjustment and in their level of psychological dis- tress [19]. However, partners’ cancer experiences have also been found to differ from that of patients in terms Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Psycho-Oncology Psycho-Oncology 22: 12–19 (2013) Published online 9 September 2011 in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com). DOI: 10.1002/pon.2050