START DATE AND DURATION: September 2020Around 2.5 million people in the UK are currently living with and beyond cancer (sometimes referred to as “cancer survivors”). Over half of these cancer survivors are now expected to live for 10 years or more. Most cancer patients are likely to suffer from multiple conditions rather than having a single condition (defined as multimorbidity). Multimorbidity potentially affects the development, stage at diagnosis, treatment, and outcomes of people with cancer. Prevalence of one comorbid condition in cancer patients ranges from 40-69% and prevalence of more than one comorbidity ranges from 12-32%. More research is needed to understand how multimorbidity impacts cancer survivors. This is where my project comes in.
My PhD is exploring the pattern of multimorbidity in those living with and beyond cancer using Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD) data. A scoping review is currently in progress to explore the existing literature on this (see the published protocol). Apart from this, I will be using various regression techniques to understand which long-term conditions affect cancer survivors the most, the trajectory of multimorbidity in their life course and the impact of socio-economic status and ethnicity on multimorbidity.
Publications