Factors Associated with Self-Reported Physical and Mental Health after Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation

Hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) is an intensive treatment for hematologic malignancies that has the potential to cure disease or prolong life, but also to impair quality of life for survivors. Earlier studies have suggested that various factors are associated with physical and mental health after HCT. In this study, we evaluated demographic and clinical factors before and after HCT and selected psychosocial factors after HCT, exploring their association with self-reported physical and mental health. We studied a cohort of 662 survivors at a median of 6.6 years after HCT. Pre-HCT demographic and clinical factors accounted for only a small amount of the variance in physical and mental health post-HCT (3% and 1%, respectively). Adding post-HCT clinical variables to the pre-HCT factors accounted for 32% and 7% of physical and mental outcomes, respectively. When both clinical and psychosocial factors were considered, better physical health post-HCT was associated with younger age, race other than white, higher current family income, currently working or being a student, less severe transplantation experience (ie, not experiencing graft-versus-host disease), fewer current comorbidities, higher Karnofsky status, less social constraint, less social support, and less trait anxiety. This multivariate model accounted for 36% of the variance in physical health, with the psychosocial variables contributing very little. When both clinical and psychosocial factors were considered, better mental health after HCT was associated with more severe transplantation experience, less social constraint, greater spiritual well being, and less trait anxiety. This multivariate model accounted for 56% of the variance in mental health, with the psychosocial factors accounting for most of the variance. These data suggest that clinical factors are explanatory for much of the post-HCT physical health reported by HCT survivors, but very little of self-perceived mental health. These observations provide insight into the identification of factors that can allow recognition of at-risk patients, as well as factors amenable to intervention.