Follow-up status, patient retention and data collection of the “Joven & Fuerte” cohort for young women with breast cancer in Mexico

Abstract

Background: Understanding the characteristics of young women with breast cancer (YWBC) in limited-resource settings and the issues they face is of great relevance to the medical community, in order to tailor clinical interventions and supportive care. Thus, the Mexican cohort “Joven & Fuerte” was established in November 2014, with the aim of comprehensively characterizing YWBC in Mexico using patient- and physician-based questionnaires. Patients are evaluated at diagnosis, and follow-up evaluations are scheduled after 6 months (m), and annually for 5 years (y). For the completion of patients’ surveys, our team reaches out to patients on the date of their medical appointments. We aim to describe the current progress of our cohort, assess patient retention and data collection, and plan adjustments to minimize losses during follow-up.