University of Miami School of Medicine, Department of Pediatrics and Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, Miami, Florida 33101, USA.
J Natl Med Assoc. 2010 Mar;102(3):184-9. doi: 10.1016/s0027-9684(15)30524-1.
Race/ethnicity and culture influence illness perceptions, health beliefs and behaviors, and communication with health care providers. However, information about the impact of race/ethnicity on the understanding of cancer diagnosis and treatment plan is limited.
Nine hundred seventy-three cancer patients completed an information needs-assessment questionnaire prior to starting treatment at 20 geographically distinct clinical cancer sites within the University of Rochester Community Clinical Oncology Program network. Chi2 Test was used to examine the association between race/ethnicity and education, occupation, and perception and use of available information. T test and analysis of covariance were used to examine race/ethnicity-based differences in concerns over understanding cancer diagnosis/treatment plan and the effect of race/ethnicity controlling for demographics.
There were 904 non-Hispanic white and 69 nonwhite (blacks, Latinos, and others) patients in the sample. Whites and nonwhites were comparable in educational attainment and occupation. However, there was a statistically significant race/ethnicity-based difference in concerns over understanding the diagnosis and treatment plan for cancer, even after controlling for sex (male, female), age, education, and occupation (p < .001). More nonwhite patients indicated that additional information would have been helpful in dealing with these concerns (p <.001).
Nonwhite cancer patients reported more concerns about understanding their diagnosis and treatment plan and were more likely to indicate that additional information would have been helpful. The findings emphasize the need for oncology professionals to confirm patients' understanding and ensure patients' information needs have been met, particularly when working with racial/ethnic minorities.
种族/民族和文化会影响疾病认知、健康信念和行为，以及与医疗保健提供者的沟通。然而，关于种族/民族对癌症诊断和治疗计划理解的影响的信息有限。
在罗切斯特大学社区临床肿瘤学计划网络的 20 个地理位置不同的临床癌症站点开始治疗之前，973 名癌症患者完成了一份信息需求评估问卷。使用卡方检验来检查种族/民族与教育、职业以及对现有信息的感知和使用之间的关联。使用 t 检验和协方差分析来检查对癌症诊断/治疗计划的理解的担忧以及对种族/民族的控制对种族/民族差异的影响。
样本中包括 904 名非西班牙裔白人患者和 69 名非白人（黑人、拉丁裔和其他人）患者。白人患者和非白人患者在教育程度和职业方面相当。然而，即使在控制了性别（男性、女性）、年龄、教育和职业之后，种族/民族之间对癌症诊断和治疗计划的理解仍然存在显著差异（p<.001）。更多的非白人患者表示，额外的信息将有助于解决这些担忧（p<.001）。
非白人癌症患者表示对理解他们的诊断和治疗计划的担忧更多，并且更有可能表示额外的信息将有所帮助。这些发现强调了肿瘤学专业人员需要确认患者的理解并确保满足患者的信息需求，尤其是在与少数族裔合作时。
