The effect of formal education on ovarian cancer, clinical trial access, and clinical trial awareness among Black and Latino US women.

Abstract

e18667 Background: Ovarian Cancer (OC) is ranked as one of the deadliest women’s cancers in the US. Due to non-specific symptoms, it is often misdiagnosed and detected late. The mortality rate is higher and increasing among Black women. In addition, Black women have poor participation in clinical trials. We conducted a survey study among Black and Latino US women to understand the factors influencing their understanding of genetic risks of OC, clinical trial awareness and ability to access a clinical trial. Methods: MiOra health educators administered an electronic survey to 226 women in their communities in Houston, TX, Atlanta, GA, and Los Angeles, CA. The data was analyzed using two-sided Fisher’s Exact Test. Results: Out of the 226 respondents 63.4% were 30 years of age or younger and 22.9% had high school education or less (low education). Out of 109 respondents, 93 (85.3%) self-identified as Black or Latino. Age did not influence self-reported awareness of genetic risk for OC, clinical trials or how to locate a clinical trial (Table 1). Low education women were significantly less likely to report being knowledgeable about genetic risk factors of OC, clinical trials or locating clinical trials. Thirty out of 48, 62.5% responding low education women and 118 out of 173, 68.2% high education women reported to have an annual provider visit (p > 0.05). The self-reported awareness on how to locate a trial was low in both the low (3 out of 48, 6.2%) and high education groups (34 out of 171, 19.9%, p < 0.05). Only 8 out of 44 (18.1%) respondents who knew someone with OC knew how to locate clinical trials. Conclusions: These results suggest that the level of education influences Black and Latino women’s awareness of OC genetic risk factors, clinical trials and clinical trial access. However, even among college educated Black and Latino women, only a small portion reported to know how to locate a clinical trial. Both high and low education Black and Latino women reported to comply with annual provider visits. These visits may be an opportunity to close the health-literacy disparities in OC and clinical trials for Black and Latino women. [Table: see text]