%0 Journal Article %J American Journal of Managed Care %D 2018 %T The well-being of long-term cancer survivors. %A Jeffrey Sullivan %A Thornton Snider, Julia %A van Eijndhoven, Emma %A Okoro, Tony %A Batt, Katharine %A Thomas DeLeire %K Cancer %K Long-term Care %K Longevity %K Survival %X

OBJECTIVES: To compare the well-being of long-term cancer survivors with that of US residents of similar age and demographic characteristics, patients recently diagnosed with cancer, and individuals with chronic illness.

STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective observational study.

METHODS: Using the Health and Retirement Study, a survey of US residents older than 50 years, we defined 4 cohorts: long-term cancer survivors (>4 years post diagnosis), individuals recently diagnosed with cancer (≤4 years post diagnosis), individuals with chronic illness, and US residents older than 50 years ("nationally representative cohort"). Well-being measures included self-reported health, utility, happiness, medical utilization and spending, employment, and earnings, and these measures were compared across cohorts, adjusting for survey year, demographic characteristics, smoking, and number of comorbidities. We imputed medical spending using the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey and the Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey.

RESULTS: Long-term cancer survivors fared significantly better than those recently diagnosed with cancer, those with chronic illness, and individuals in the nationally representative cohort in the majority of well-being measures (P <.05), including fewer doctor visits, hospitalizations, and hospital nights; better utility and self-reported health; and greater likelihood of employment. Long-term cancer survivors had lower healthcare spending than those recently diagnosed with cancer (P <.01) and significantly greater happiness than the nationally representative cohort and those with chronic illness (P <.05).

CONCLUSIONS: Although patients with cancer experience diminished well-being in the short term across a variety of measures, in the long term, cancer survivors do as well as or better than US residents of similar age and demographic characteristics. This finding is striking given that one might expect long-term cancer survivors to do worse than similar individuals without a history of cancer.

%B American Journal of Managed Care %V 24 %P 188-195 %G eng %N 4 %1 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29668209?dopt=Abstract %0 Book Section %B Lifecycle Events and Their Consequences: Job Loss, Family Change, and Declines in Health %D 2013 %T Involuntary Job Transitions and Subjective Well-Being %A Ariel Kalil %A Thomas DeLeire %E Kenneth A. Couch %E Mary C. Daly %E Julie M Zissimopoulos %K Employment and Labor Force %K Expectations %K Other %X This chapter examines whether lasting reductions in earnings and wealth due to job loss have consequences on well-being beyond financial concerns. In particular, the analysis uses data from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) to examine the impact of job loss on two different measures of self-reported psychological well-being, one meant to capture life satisfaction and another that gauges a person's sense of purpose in life. The research indicates that job loss, independent of a variety of background factors, reduces satisfaction by roughly 25 to 50 percent and that self-assessments by individuals of their purpose in life also typically declines by roughly 15 percent. This work suggests that job loss takes a toll on the nonfinancial as well as the financial well-being of individuals. %B Lifecycle Events and Their Consequences: Job Loss, Family Change, and Declines in Health %I Stanford University Press %C Stanford, CA %P 76-96 %G eng %4 job loss/displacement/subjective well-being %$ 999999 %! Involuntary Job Transitions and Subjective Well-Being %0 Journal Article %J International Review of Economics %D 2010 %T Does consumption buy happiness? Evidence from the United States %A Thomas DeLeire %A Ariel Kalil %K Consumption and Savings %K Demographics %K Retirement Planning and Satisfaction %X We examine the association between various components of consumption expenditure and happiness in the Health and Retirement Study (HRS), a nationally representative sample of older Americans. We find that only one component of consumption is positively related to happiness--leisure consumption. In contrast, consumption of durables, charity, personal care, food, health care, vehicles, and housing are not significantly associated with happiness. Second, we find that leisure consumption is associated with higher levels of happiness partially through its effect on social connectedness, as indexed by measures of loneliness and embeddedness in social networks. On one hand, these results counter the conventional wisdom that material goods can't buy happiness. One the other hand, they underscore the importance of social goods and social connectedness in the production of happiness. %B International Review of Economics %I 57 %V 57 %P 163-176 %G eng %N 2 %4 Consumption/Leisure/socioeconomic Status %$ 22850 %R https://doi.org/10.1007/s12232-010-0093-6