Supportive care priorities of low-income Latina breast cancer survivors

Alix G. Sleight, Kathleen Doyle Lyons, Cheryl Vigen, Heather Macdonald, Florence Clark

This study investigated the supportive care needs of a sample of low-income Latina breast cancer survivors. Ninety-nine Spanish-speaking breast cancer survivors who self-identified as Latina and reported an income below the US Census Bureau low-income threshold were recruited from the oncology clinic of a major public safety net hospital. Eligible participants completed the supportive care needs survey (SCNS-SF34) and a demographic questionnaire. Ninety-three percent of respondents had unmet needs. The majority of frequently reported unmet needs involved (1) access to and delivery of health-related information and (2) physical function. These findings appear to contrast with those of other studies of supportive care needs in heterogeneous cancer survivors, most of which describe psychological concerns as most urgent. Participants espoused information-related needs with a higher frequency than many other samples of cancer survivors. This study population may also require a particularly high level of assistance with overcoming participation restrictions. Further research is needed to understand these discrepancies and to address unmet needs across all domains.