Activation and Preparedness for Survivorship Care Among Survivors of Oral and Oropharyngeal Cancers

ABSTRACT Objective The objectives were to characterize activation and preparedness for survivorship care and identify key sociodemographic variables, medical characteristics, care transition experiences, and psychosocial factors associated with preparedness and activation among recent oral and oropharyngeal cancer survivors. Methods In this cross‐sectional study, 593 oral/oropharyngeal cancer survivors from cancer registries completed an online survey, and medical data were collected from the cancer registry. Results In multivariable analyses, having Medicare or other types of non‐private insurance and having a treatment summary were associated with more activation, and lower activation was associated with being married/partnered, having a recurrence, and reporting more information needs and more depression. Older age, having a partner, Hispanic ethnicity, having Medicare insurance, and receiving a treatment summary were associated with higher preparedness for survivorship care, and being female, multiple race, employed, receiving chemotherapy, more information needs, higher fear of recurrence, and more depression were associated with less preparedness for survivorship care. Conclusions This study identified factors associated with self‐reported activation and preparedness for survivorship care. Future research may benefit from evaluating these risk factors using a longitudinal design. If confirmed in longitudinal studies, interventions seeking to improve self‐reported activation and preparedness for survivorship care could be targeted to survivors at greater risk.