Psychological Well-Being, Self-Esteem, Quality of Life and Gender Differences as Determinants of Post-Traumatic Growth in Long-Term Knee Rotationplasty Survivors: A Cohort Study

Abstract

Rotationplasty (RP) is a special surgical technique for bone tumors of the lower limb and is the chosen procedure for children under 6 with bone sarcoma in the distal femur. Leg reconstruction results in an unusual aspect of the limb potentially giving life-long emotional outcomes, especially considering the young age of most RP patients. Although the high level of the quality of life of these patients has been previously reported, aspects related to long-term psychological well-being, self-esteem and life satisfaction, particularly regarding the gender, procreation and parenting, have never been explored. The aim of this study was to assess the general degree of psychological well-being of RP patients, with specific reference to gender, procreation and parenting. Twenty long-term RP survivors of high-grade bone sarcoma participated in the study. They were administered the following validated questionnaires: HADS for psychological well-being (degree of anxiety and depression), Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI), RSES for self-esteem, SF-36 for quality of life, SWLS extended to life satisfaction, and ABIS for body image integration. Data on education, marriage, employment and parenthood were gathered. All the scores obtained were very close to normal references. The only gender difference was found for the TCI Cooperativeness scale, which was higher in women than in men. A satisfactory psychological well-being in terms of both self-esteem and integration of the prosthetic joint limb into one’s body image, with relatively limited amount of anxiety/depression, good quality of life, and good temperament and character traits, was found. No major gender differences were reported.

Psychological outcomes in patients with rare cancers: a systematic review and meta-analysis

“…Benedetti et al. 20 reported a significant association between unmarried patients and having lower mental well-being. D'Agostino et al.…”

“…The remaining 4249 studies were excluded after removing irrelevant studies with the wrong study design or population and duplicates. 23 studies 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 , 35 , 36 , 37 , 38 , 39 , 40 , 41 investigated patients diagnosed with sarcoma, eight studies 42 , 43 , 44 , 45 , 46 , 47 , 48 , 49 investigated patients diagnosed with various rare cancers, while one study 50 investigated patients diagnosed with cholangiocarcinoma. 57,470 patients with rare cancers out of 1,287,082 participants were included.…”

“…Two studies 20 , 27 examined the relationship between pre-existing psychological statuses and psychological outcomes in patients with rare cancers ( Supplementary Table S6 ). Both studies reported a significant association between having pre-existing psychological disturbances and an increased severity of anxiety and depression after a rare cancer diagnosis.…”

“…Three studies 20 , 27 , 46 reported on the association between social status and psychological outcomes in patients with rare cancers ( Supplementary Table S8 ). Benedetti et al.…”