School of Nursing, University of Pittsburgh, 3500 Victoria Street Suite 440, Pittsburgh, PA, 15261, USA.
Palliative Research Center (PaRC), University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
Int J Behav Med. 2023 Apr;30(2):211-220. doi: 10.1007/s12529-022-10085-7. Epub 2022 Jul 6.
Self-advocacy skills allow individuals with cancer to overcome challenges related to their health, care, and well-being. Understanding the self-advocacy behaviors and needs of individuals with cancer is critical to addressing the lack of evidence-based self-advocacy interventions. The aims of this study are to describe (1) self-advocacy behaviors and needs of women with advanced cancer and (2) associations between self-advocacy and sociodemographic, cancer, and patient-reported outcomes.
We analyzed cross-sectional data from a clinical trial among women within 3 months of a metastatic breast or stage III or IV gynecologic cancer diagnosis. Descriptive and correlational statistics and tests of group difference were calculated for measures of self-advocacy (Female Self-Advocacy in Cancer Survivorship Scale), sociodemographic characteristics, quality of life (FACT-G), symptom burden (M.D. Anderson Symptom Inventory), and mood (Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale).
Participants (N = 78) reported self-advocacy behaviors including making decisions based on their priorities, asking questions to their healthcare providers, and comparing their experiences to others' experiences. Self-advocacy needs focused on finding health information and talking with healthcare providers. Self-advocacy behaviors and needs did not differ by participants' sociodemographic characteristics or mood. Higher self-advocacy behaviors were associated with higher quality of life (p ≤ .01) and lower symptom severity (p < .05) with a trend for cancer recurrence (p = .05).
Women with advanced cancer report engaging in self-advocacy behaviors and these are associated with higher quality of life and lower symptom burden. Future research should determine if self-advocacy behaviors and needs change over time and how patient characteristics impact self-advocacy behaviors and needs.
自我倡导技能使癌症患者能够克服与健康、护理和福祉相关的挑战。了解癌症患者的自我倡导行为和需求对于解决缺乏基于证据的自我倡导干预措施至关重要。本研究的目的是描述：（1）晚期癌症女性的自我倡导行为和需求；（2）自我倡导与社会人口统计学、癌症和患者报告结果之间的关联。
我们分析了一项针对转移性乳腺癌或 III 或 IV 期妇科癌症诊断后 3 个月内女性的临床试验的横断面数据。使用描述性和相关性统计以及组间差异检验，对自我倡导（女性癌症生存自我倡导量表）、社会人口统计学特征、生活质量（FACT-G）、症状负担（MD 安德森症状量表）和情绪（医院焦虑和抑郁量表）进行了测量。
参与者（N=78）报告了自我倡导行为，包括根据自己的优先级做出决策、向医疗保健提供者提问以及将自己的经历与他人的经历进行比较。自我倡导需求侧重于寻找健康信息和与医疗保健提供者交谈。自我倡导行为和需求与参与者的社会人口统计学特征或情绪无关。较高的自我倡导行为与较高的生活质量（p≤.01）和较低的症状严重程度（p<.05）相关，癌症复发的趋势（p=.05）。
晚期癌症女性报告了自我倡导行为，这些行为与较高的生活质量和较低的症状负担相关。未来的研究应确定自我倡导行为和需求是否随时间而变化，以及患者特征如何影响自我倡导行为和需求。
