School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences, School of Basic Sciences, Ponce Health Sciences University, Ponce, Puerto Rico.
Ponce Research Institute, Ponce, Puerto Rico.
P R Health Sci J. 2024 Sep;43(3):132-138.
The current study aimed to explore changes in health-related behaviors and social practices in Hispanic cancer patients during a government-mandated lockdown and their relationship to sociodemographic and clinical characteristics.
Secondary analyses were conducted on data gathered by a longitudinal cohort study to describe the unmet needs of Hispanic cancer patients living in Puerto Rico exposed to Hurricane Maria in 2017, earthquakes in 2020, and COVID-19. However, our study solely focuses on the data from the COVID-19 pandemic period.
Most participants were women (n = 72) with breast cancer (81.2%). Participants exhibited changes in religious practices (60%), physical activity (58.4%), and sedentary behavior (50%); 31.4% experienced changes in eating habits and sleeping patterns. Responses to the study questionnaire involved staying connected with family (85.5%) through phone calls (78.2%); 69.9% of the participants reported observing shifts in the family dynamics. A strong majority endorsed the government-imposed isolation measures (95.6%). Patients not undergoing treatment were likelier (r = -0.324; P = .010) to support the measures. Finally, younger patients experienced more work-related changes (r = -0.288; P = .017) and were less inclined (r = -0.293; P = .011) to find the isolation measures appropriate.
This paper describes the lockdown related changes in health and social behaviors sustained by cancer patients, changes which could potentially impact their overall health and health-related quality of life. Our results fill an existing gap in our findings and contribute to understanding the experiences of cancer patients (in particular, Hispanic patients) during the COVID-19 pandemic.
本研究旨在探讨在政府强制封锁期间西班牙裔癌症患者的健康相关行为和社会行为的变化及其与社会人口学和临床特征的关系。
对一项纵向队列研究收集的数据进行二次分析，以描述 2017 年遭受玛丽亚飓风、2020 年地震和 COVID-19 影响的波多黎各居住的西班牙裔癌症患者的未满足需求。然而，我们的研究仅关注 COVID-19 大流行期间的数据。
大多数参与者为女性（n = 72），患有乳腺癌（81.2%）。参与者的宗教行为（60%）、体育活动（58.4%）和久坐行为（50%）发生了变化；31.4%的参与者饮食习惯和睡眠模式发生了变化。对研究问卷的回答包括通过电话与家人保持联系（85.5%）（78.2%）；69.9%的参与者报告家庭动态发生了变化。绝大多数人赞成政府实施的隔离措施（95.6%）。未接受治疗的患者更有可能（r = -0.324；P =.010）支持这些措施。最后，年轻患者经历了更多与工作相关的变化（r = -0.288；P =.017），并且不太倾向于（r = -0.293；P =.011）认为隔离措施合适。
本文描述了癌症患者在封锁期间健康和社会行为的变化，这些变化可能会影响他们的整体健康和健康相关生活质量。我们的研究结果填补了我们研究结果中的一个空白，并有助于了解癌症患者（特别是西班牙裔患者）在 COVID-19 大流行期间的经历。
