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Qol and Patients' Care

Differences in health behaviour between recipients of allogeneic haematopoietic SCT and the general population: a matched control study

Bone Marrow Transplantation volume 49, pages 1223–1230 (2014)Cite this article

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Abstract

Little is known of health-relevant behaviour among long-term survivors of haematological disorders treated with haematopoietic SCT. This comparative cross-sectional multicentre study aimed (1) to explore the prevalence of selected behaviours in this group and (2) to compare them with those of the general population. Self-reported data of 376 survivors (mean age: 50.4 (s.d.=12.8); median 7 years postallogeneic SCT (interquartile range (IQR)=8.9; range 1–33) were compared with controls derived from the Swiss Health Survey 2007 by propensity score matching. Survivors were more physically inactive (26.8% vs 12.5%; P⩽0.001) and consumed fewer portions of vegetables (⩾3 pieces: 10% vs 21.6%; P<0.001), fruits (⩾3 pieces: 6.5% vs 10.6%; P<0.001) and fish (31.2% vs 60.9% weekly fish dish; P<0.001). More survivors consumed dairy products daily (92.5% vs 62.9%; P<0.001), used sun protection regularly (94.5% vs 85.3%, P<0.001) and had received influenza vaccinations in the past year (58.4% vs 21.5%; P<0.001); fewer survivors smoked (13.4% vs 35.4%; P<0.001). Survivors’ weekly alcohol consumption was lower (median 1.5 servings (IQR 4) vs median 4.5 (IQR 10.3); P<0.001). Of those taking immunosuppressants, 65.7% were non-adherent. Similar to the general population, survivors experience problems executing several health-enhancing behaviours, warranting corrective interventions.

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Acknowledgements

We are grateful to all participating patients and the clinical outpatient teams from the University Hospitals in Basel and Zürich. Furthermore, we thank Marina Fontana, Monika Grossen and Gani Gashi for their help with data collection, Chris Shultis for editing support and Kris Denhaerynck for statistical advice. This study was supported by grants from the Foundation Cancer Research Switzerland (KFS 2705-08-2010) and the ‘Stiftung zur Krebsbekämpfung’ (2010/280). We recognize the Swiss Federal Statistical Office for sharing data of the 2007 Swiss Health Survey.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Nursing Science, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland

    M Kirsch & S De Geest

  2. Department of Haematology, University Hospital of Basel, Basel, Switzerland

    M Kirsch & J P Halter

  3. Division of Haematology, University Hospital of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland

    A Götz & U Schanz

  4. Department of Haematology, Oncology Institute of Southern Switzerland, Bellinzona, Switzerland

    G Stussi

  5. Department of Public Health and Primary Care, Health Services and Nursing Research, KU Leuven, Belgium

    F Dobbels & S De Geest

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Correspondence to S De Geest.

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Kirsch, M., Götz, A., Halter, J. et al. Differences in health behaviour between recipients of allogeneic haematopoietic SCT and the general population: a matched control study. Bone Marrow Transplant 49, 1223–1230 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1038/bmt.2014.142

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