Physical and Mental Health Status of Older Long-Term Cancer Survivors

Objectives: To assess the physical and mental health status of older long‐term cancer survivors. Design: Cohort study using propensity score methods to control for baseline differences between cancer survivors and controls. Setting: General community population in the United States. Participants: Nine hundred sixty‐four cancer patients who had survived for more than 4 years and 14,333 control patients who had never had cancer from a population‐based sample of Americans aged 55 and older responding to the 2002 Health and Retirement Study. Measurements: Medical conditions, symptoms, health behaviors, health status, mobility, activities of daily living, mental health diagnoses, self‐rated memory, depressive symptoms, cognitive function, and self‐reported life expectancy. Results: Cancer survivors reported higher rates of lung disease (13.9% vs 9.6%; P=.001), heart condition (29.3% vs 22.9%; P