Abstract A47: Evaluating therapeutic care delay among Latina and European American cervical cancer survivors.

Abstract

Abstract Purpose: Severe delays, in cancer diagnostic or therapeutic care, approaching ≥60 days negatively affect survival and survivorship outcomes. The purpose of this study was to investigate socioeconomic and healthcare system factors influencing therapeutic care delays among European- and Latina-American cervical cancer survivors (CCS). Methods: 291 CCS (132 European-, 50 English-proficient (EP) Latina-, and 109 limited English-proficient (LEP) Latina-Americans) were recruited from the California Cancer Registry and hospital registries. CCS completed a self-report questionnaire assessing demographic and cancer-related factors. CCS retrospectively noted the days of delay in obtaining therapeutic care and reasons for delays. Results: CCS who were LEP Latina-Americans, had lower income and education reported severe therapeutic delays (≥60 days). LEP Latina-Americans experienced more comorbidities (i.e., diabetes) and delays due to financial issues, doctor's delay, and healthcare system issues (p<0.001). Doctor and healthcare system delays were significant predictors of delayed therapeutic care in the logistic regression model. Conclusions: It is well documented that timely access to therapeutic care for cancers results in better prognosis and less costly treatments; thus reducing the human and economic cost of CCA. Healthcare system delays, patient health status, income, and education significantly influenced access to appropriately-timed care. Yet, the interaction of provider-actions and patient factors remains largely unexplained and needs further comprehensive investigation with larger samples. Our findings indicate that healthcare system administrators, providers, and researchers need to develop a fuller appreciation of the multilevel factors that contribute to health care barriers to better inform effective interventions to increase access to life saving care. Citation Format: Monica Rosales, Kimlin Ashing-Giwa. Evaluating therapeutic care delay among Latina and European American cervical cancer survivors. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Fifth AACR Conference on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved; 2012 Oct 27-30; San Diego, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2012;21(10 Suppl):Abstract nr A47.