{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,9]],"date-time":"2026-01-09T19:09:55Z","timestamp":1767985795496,"version":"3.49.0"},"reference-count":31,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"2","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,9]],"date-time":"2026-01-09T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1767916800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100003645","name":"National Cancer Center, Republic of Korea","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["NCC-2311470-3"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["NCC-2311470-3"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100003645","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Cancers"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background\/Objectives: The Korean Survey for Cancer Survivorship (KSCS) aims to comprehensively assess cancer survivors\u2019 health behaviors, quality of life (QoL), and socioeconomic challenges. This study evaluated the feasibility of the KSCS protocol and identified key factors influencing psychological health and QoL among cancer survivors. Methods: The nationwide survey targeted survivors diagnosed with breast, colorectal, liver, lung, stomach, prostate, and gynecological cancers who had completed active treatment within 1 to 10 years. The respondents were given the option to participate in the survey either online or in-person. The questionnaire has 229 questions, including internationally validated tools such as the EQ-5D-3L, PHQ-9, and GAD-7. Results: A total of 983 cancer survivors completed the survey (92.7% online, 8.3% in-person) and were categorized by post-diagnosis duration. Survivors diagnosed within 1\u20133 years reported higher rates of moderate-severe depression (11.4% vs. 8.3%), moderate-severe anxiety (5.9% vs. 5.1%), and poorest QoL (63.0% vs. 50.9%) compared to those diagnosed more than 5 years ago. Employment changes, such as loss of job, change of workplace, or work leave, were significantly associated with worse health outcomes, including higher rates of moderate-severe depression (OR = 4.39; 95% CI 2.43\u20137.96), moderate-severe anxiety (OR = 3.63; 95% CI 1.68\u20130.88), and having extreme QoL problems (OR = 6.37; 95% CI 2.03\u201320.00). Conclusions: The KSCS protocol is feasible for nationwide implementation and provides comprehensive data on health, psychological, and socioeconomic challenges among cancer survivors. Preliminary findings highlight employment\u2019s critical role in cancer survivors\u2019 well-being and the need for survivorship care that integrates socioeconomic and clinical factors.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/cancers18020219","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,9]],"date-time":"2026-01-09T14:15:50Z","timestamp":1767968150000},"page":"219","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Protocol Development for the Korean Survey for Cancer Survivorship and Preliminary Analysis of Employment Change\u2019s Impact on Quality of Life and Psychological Health"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"18","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0005-2727-038X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Janine Marie","family":"Balbedina","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Public Health and AI, Graduate School of Cancer Science and Policy, National Cancer Center, Goyang 10408, Republic of Korea"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-1142-1559","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Yeol","family":"Kim","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Public Health and AI, Graduate School of Cancer Science and Policy, National Cancer Center, Goyang 10408, Republic of Korea"},{"name":"National Cancer Survivorship Center, National Cancer Center, Goyang 10408, Republic of Korea"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0000-0214-6167","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Hye Joo","family":"Jang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"National Cancer Survivorship Center, National Cancer Center, Goyang 10408, Republic of Korea"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0002-6690-3272","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ha Yeong","family":"You","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"National Cancer Survivorship Center, National Cancer Center, Goyang 10408, Republic of Korea"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-5860-7487","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Jae Hyun","family":"Park","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, School of Medicine, Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon 16419, Republic of Korea"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-6879-9686","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Hyun Woo","family":"Lee","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Hematology-Oncology, School of Medicine, Ajou University, Suwon 16419, Republic of Korea"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0023-7740","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ji Soo","family":"Park","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Cancer Prevention Center, Yonsei Cancer Hospital, Seoul 03722, Republic of Korea"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4557-2323","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Yu Ri","family":"Choe","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Family Medicine, Hwasun Hospital, Chonnam National University, Hwasun 58128, Republic of Korea"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4389-9701","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Kyu Won","family":"Jung","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Division of Cancer Registration and Surveillance, National Cancer Control Institute, National Cancer Center, Goyang 10408, Republic of Korea"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,9]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Cortiana, V., Abbas, R.H., Nadar, S., Mahendru, D., Gambill, J., Menon, G.P., Park, C.H., and Leyfman, Y. 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