The impact of cancer: An Italian descriptive study involving 500 long‐term cancer survivors

Introduction The well‐being and quality of life (QoL) of long‐term cancer survivors may be affected, both positively and negatively, by psychosocial factors related to the experience of being a cancer patient. We investigated whether, in long‐term cancer survivors, the psychosocial impacts of cancer associate with socio‐demographic–clinical variables; whether, within the positive and negative dimensions taken separately, some impacts are more intense than others; and whether these impacts explain QoL. Methods Italian long‐term cancer survivors (n = 500) completed the Impact of Cancer (IOC‐V2) and Short Form 36 Health Survey (SF‐36) questionnaires. Results The IOC‐V2 negative impact score associated with gender, education, occupational status and health issues, whereas no association was found between the positive impact score and socio‐demographic–clinical variables. Of the positive impacts, Altruism/Empathy was the highest (p