Table 1.

Questionnaire item domains at each time point by cancer cases and general-population comparison group

	Cancer Group		Comparison Group
Method	Telephone interview	Mailed questionnaire	Face-to-face interview
Time 1a	1. Socio-demographicsb 2. Cancer treatments 3. Symptoms (MSASb) 4. Work questionsa 5. Work limitations (WLQ)	6. Quality of life (SF-36)b 7. Health behaviours & conditionsb 8. Cancer-specific quality of life (FACT-C) 9. Financial strainb	Question groups 1, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9 from HILDA Wave 9, 2009 data
Time 2	Repeat question groups 2-8		Question groups 1, 4, 6, 7, 8 from HILDA Wave 10, 2010 data

^a Time 1 for the Cancer Group occurs six-months after diagnosis however retrospective work questions are asked about their time of diagnosis (baseline) and about their current time (six months after diagnosis) therefore a common one year period will be compared across the cancer and comparison groups for key work questions.

^bThese questions are the same as those in the comparison group to enable direct comparison between groups.

Abbrevs: FACT-C = Functional Assessment in Cancer Therapy plus Colorectal Cancer module, HILDA = Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia, MSAS = Memorial Symptom Assessment Scale, SF-36 = Medical Outcomes Study Short Form 36, WLQ = Work Limitations Questionnaire.