Evaluation of the quality of life of patients diagnosed with cancer and received treatment in the adolescent and young adult age group

İntroduction: Cancer is an important disease that affects the quality of life of patients. Cancer patients in the adolescent and young adult age group have a high survival rate and experience many experiences that affect their quality of life after the cancer treatment process. Patients in this age group have long-term risks, including the inability to have children, sexual dysfunction, and the risk of developing cancer. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the quality of life of patients who were diagnosed at an adolescent and young adult age and whose cancer treatment was completed and who were in the treatment-free follow-up process, by comparing it with healthy adolescents and young adults. Methods: Patients diagnosed in the adolescent and young adult age range who were followed up at Dokuz Eylül University Hospital Medical Oncology Polyclinic and were followed up without treatment for at least 1 year were included in this study. The SF-36 Quality of Life Scale was administered over the phone to the patient and control groups who met the inclusion criteria. This scale, consisting of a total of 36 items, provides measurement of 8 dimensions in the areas of physical function, social function, role limitations due to physical problems, role limitations due to emotional problems, mental health, energy/vitality, pain and general perception of health. Results: A total of 195 participants, 140 oncology patients and 55 healthy individuals for the control group, were included in our study. The median age of the oncology patient group was 41.00 (22.0-48.0) years, and the median age of the control group was 39.0 (38.0-40.0) years (p=0.275). 82.1% of the patients in the oncology patient group were female, and 83.6% of the participants in the control group were female (p = 0.805). The median age at diagnosis of oncology patients was found to be 35.6 (15.4-45.0). It was determined that 80.7% of oncology patients were married, and in the control group, the majority of participants were single, at a rate of 60.0% (P<0.001). It was observed that the majority of participants in the oncology patient group (41.4%) were high school graduates, while the majority in the control group were university graduates (52.7%) (p = 0.010). The most frequently detected cancer was breast cancer (60%) and the most frequently detected stage was stage 2 (46%). When the domain scores of the SF-36 survey were compared between the groups, a statistically significant difference was found in the average physical function scores in favor of the control group (98.18±4.00 vs 92.57±9.80, p<0.001). When physical role difficulty and emotional role difficulty domain scores were compared, it was determined that there was no statistically significant difference (p>0.05). The mental health domain score and social functionality domain score of the participants in the oncology patient group were found to be statistically significantly higher than the participants in the control group (p<0.001 and p=0.001, respectively). The average pain domain scores of the participants in both groups were found to be similar (p = 0.911). The average general health perception score of the participants in the control group was found to be statistically significantly higher than the participants in the oncology patient group (70.36±13.97 vs 62.04±21.65; p=0.002). Conclusion: In patients diagnosed with cancer in adolescence and young adulthood and followed up, there may be a decrease in the quality of life compared to healthy individuals. Supportive treatment should be planned to keep the quality of life high in terms of physical and mental health during both the treatment and follow-up period. Key words: Adolescent and young adult, quality of life, cancer, SF-36 quality of life scale