Abstract B057: Identifying gaps in awareness of precision medicine terms between Hispanic/Latinxs and Non-Hispanic Whites in Southern California

Abstract

Abstract Background/Purpose Cancer health disparities persist between Hispanic/Latinxs (H/Ls) and non-Hispanic whites (NHWs) in the US. Structural and societal inequities including in education and access to knowledge, exacerbate disparities. We investigated differences between H/Ls and NHWs in awareness of precision medicine terms that may create a decisional disadvantage in cancer prevention, diagnostics, and treatment for H/Ls. Methods A random sample of 4,000 San Diego County, California residents and 1,000 residents with ZIP codes along the US-MX border received study mailers with Spanish/English invitations and survey booklets, and a $2-bill pre-incentive. Reminder letters were sent 8 weeks later. Respondents were asked to self-identify race and ethnicity and to indicate on a 5-point Likert scale (“not at all” to “extremely”) how familiar they were with a series of 13 medical terms [i.e., 2 precision medicine, 10 genetics, and 1 social determinants of health; Williams et al. 2018]. A total of 720 completed surveys were received (14.4% response rate), including 446 from NHWs and 154 from H/Ls. Pearson Chi-Square tests assessed associations between ethnicity and being “moderately” or “extremely” familiar with the terms. Results Of the 600 H/L and NHW residents completing surveys, 33.8% were men, 64.8% were women, 0.2% were transgender, and 1.2% did not identify. NHWs reported significantly greater familiarity than H/Ls for 10 of 13 terms. Genomics had the greatest difference with 52.3% of NHWs reporting moderate/extreme familiarity compared to 23.8% of H/Ls (p<0.01). Despite overall familiarity with more common terms, significant differences between H/Ls and NHWs were observed; although >50% of both groups reported familiarity with the terms genetic testing, gene, hereditary, DNA, and chromosome, NHWs reported greater familiarity than H/Ls by >10 percentage points (p<0.01). Greater familiarity between NHWs and H/Ls were also reported for lesser-known terms such as biological indicators (56.0% vs. 36.9%), biomarkers (45.8% vs. 26.7%), social determinants of health (29.2% vs. 15.5%), and biobank (21.3% vs. 13.6%). There were no significant differences in familiarity with the precision medicine terms or pharmacogenomics. Discussion Cancer health disparities are the result of complex, interwoven structural and societal inequities. Familiarity with medical terminology is a quantifiable example of access to knowledge. In contrast to recent literature, we report significant differences between H/Ls and NHWs using this precision medicine familiarity tool. H/L communities, and particularly H/L patients, may need additional health literacy support to fully participate in decision-making for cancer prevention and care including participation in clinical trials and tissue biorepositories. Cancer centers have an opportunity to support outreach and education efforts to bridge these gaps in the community and among the patient population through bilingual and bicultural clinical teams, translated plain-language consents, and patient navigation. Citation Format: Corinne McDaniels-Davidson, Jesse N. Nodora, Humberto Parada Jr., Sandip P. Patel, M. Elena Martinez. Identifying gaps in awareness of precision medicine terms between Hispanic/Latinxs and Non-Hispanic Whites in Southern California [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 15th AACR Conference on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved; 2022 Sep 16-19; Philadelphia, PA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2022;31(1 Suppl):Abstract nr B057.