Adolescents’ and Young Adults’ Experiences of Childhood Cancer

Childhood cancer Qualitative Sense of coherence Survivorship Background: Survivors of childhood cancer are a growing population in society. These young people have a high risk of developing chronic health problems with a potential strong impact on their lives. How a childhood cancer experience affects survivors in adolescence has been studied to a limited extent; an increased understanding of this young group is needed to improve follow-up care. Objective: The aim of this study was to gain a deeper understanding of how childhood cancer affects the lives of survivors by exploring adolescents’ and young adults’ views of what it is like living with this experience. Methods: Fifty-nine 11to 22-year-olds were interviewed a median of 5 years after a cancer diagnosis (response rate, 66%). Data were collected through telephone interviews and were analyzed using qualitative content analysis techniques. Results: Three groups of informants were identified according to their descriptions of the influence of cancer treatment on their daily life: ‘‘feeling like anyone else’’ (informants who described that the cancer experience had almost no influence on current life) (49%), ‘‘feeling almost like others’’ (those who described some influence) (44%), and ‘‘feeling different’’ (those describing a great influence on current life) (7%). Conclusions: Most of the adolescents and young adults appear to get along well, although many informants described that life was affected to some extent by having had cancer.