Financial distress, health literacy, numeracy, and treatment receipt by race/ethnicity amongst breast cancer survivors.

Authors

Ashley Odai-Afotey

Ashley Odai-Afotey

Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA

Ashley Odai-Afotey , Ruth Lederman , Naomi Y Ko , Haley Gagnon , Dawn L. Hershman , Katherine D. Crew , Nancy Lynn Keating , Daniel A. Gundersen , Anna C. Revette , Rachel A. Freedman

Organizations

Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boson, MA, Boston University Medical Center, Boston, MA, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, NY, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York, NY, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, Survey and Data Management Core, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA

Research Funding

Other Foundation
Other Foundation

Background: Low-income and minority women are less likely to receive breast cancer treatments and have higher mortality rates compared with other women.We examined economic hardship, health literacy, and numeracy by race/ethnicity and whether these factors were associated with differences in receipt of recommended treatment. Methods: We conducted a telephone survey in 2018-2020 of adult women diagnosed with stage I-III breast cancer between 2013-2016 at three centers in Boston and New York. We asked women about treatment receipt and factors contributing to decision-making. We used X2 and Fischer exact tests to examine associations between economic distress, health literacy/numeracy, and treatment receipt by race/ethnicity. Results: Among 326 respondents (AAPOR cooperation rate 63-80% across sites), 55% were Non-Hispanic (NH) White, 23% were NH Black, and 14% Hispanic; 15% were Medicaid-insured. Due to item non-response, sample sizes ranged from 294-315 per question. A substantial proportion of women, and particularly Black and Hispanic women, reported economic distress, worse finances over time, and low literacy/numeracy (Table). Overall, 7% (n = 22) did not initiate at least one recommended treatment. Although we observed no differences in treatment by race/ethnicity (p = 0.70), those not initiating recommended treatment(s) reported more worry about paying large medical bills (52% vs. 27%) and covering visit costs (27 vs. 10%); p < .05 for both. Conclusions: In a diverse sample of breast cancer survivors, financial distress was common, particularly for non-White participants; non-White women also had lower literacy/numeracy. Although we observed some associations of these factors (but not race/ethnicity) with less receipt of recommended treatments, because few women declined treatments, understanding the scope of impact is limited. However, our results highlight the importance of up-front and longer-term assessments of resource needs and allocation of support for breast cancer survivors. Novelty of this work includes the granular measures on financial distress and the focus on health literacy/numeracy among a diverse population.

Question (N, %)
NH White
NH Black
Hispanic
P-value
Had to borrow money/go into debt
19 (11)
13 (17)
14 (33)
< 0.01
Worry about paying large medical bills
44 (25)
21 (28)
21 (49)
0.01
Can pay bills after cutting back / Difficulty paying bills no matter what
23 (13)
31 (41)
16 (39)
< 0.001
Difficulty covering share of visits
11 (6)
15 (20)
6 (15)
0.003
Current financial situation worse (vs. at diagnosis)
30 (17)
17 (22)
9 (22)
0.27
Difficulty understanding written information about medical condition
4 (2)
5 (7)
1 (2)
< 0.001
Little/no confidence filling out medical forms
1 (0.6)
8 (11)
5 (12)
< 0.01
‘Not good at all’ working with fractions
29 (16)
22 (29)
18 (44)
< 0.001
‘Not good at all’ determining 25% off shirt
9 (5)
13 (17)
11 (27)
< 0.001

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Abstract Details

Meeting

2022 ASCO Annual Meeting

Session Type

Publication Only

Session Title

Health Services Research and Quality Improvement

Track

Quality Care/Health Services Research

Sub Track

Access to Care

Citation

J Clin Oncol 40, 2022 (suppl 16; abstr e18554)

DOI

10.1200/JCO.2022.40.16_suppl.e18554

Abstract #

e18554

Abstract Disclosures

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