From 2002-2018, there was an increase in the prevalence of comorbid chronic conditions among cancer survivors, according to a study published in Cancer. Changchuan Jiang, MD, MPH, and colleagues calculated the age-sex-race/ ethnicity-adjusted prevalences and estimated the population sizes for kidney disease, hypertension, diabetes, stroke, heart disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)/asthma, hepatitis, arthritis, liver disease, and morbid obesity among cancer survivors using 2002- 2018 National Health Interview Survey data. The researchers observed increasing trends in the prevalence of kidney disease, hypertension, diabetes, liver disease, and morbid obesity among the 30,728 cancer survivors. From 2002-2018, there was also an increase in the number of cancer survivors with multiple chronic conditions (MCC: three or more health conditions) from 4.7 to 8.1 million (prevalence increased from 43.7% to 46.6%); the increase was more pronounced among cancer survivors aged 18-44. The prevalence of MCC also increased among adults without a cancer history, although more slowly than among cancer survivors.
