Breast cancer incidence and mortality are higher in young African American women than in young white women. Little data exist regarding the responses of poor women and women of color to the cancer experience. However, anecdotal information and data from focus groups suggest that these women need information about cancer and its treatment, and how to interact with the medical care system, including communicating with physicians. Our multi-disciplinary, multi-cultural team proposes to design, implement and evaluate the effectiveness of a ten session education support group targeted for women under 50 who are African American, Hispanic, Filipino, Chinese or white living in the San Francisco Bay Area. The focus of the intervention is information on cancer and its treatment, and on coping skills training. The sample will be recruited from the population-based SEER tumor registry using rapid identification procedures which will allow us to reach this group of women as soon as six weeks following their diagnosis for breast cancer. We will stratify (by ethnicity) and randomly assign 200 women to the education support group intervention and 200 women to a non-intervention control group. Women in the control group will receive information about resources in their community. Outcome data include measures of psychosocial distress, self-image including sexuality, physical functioning including return to work, and compliance with medical treatment. To guide our approach, make it culturally sensitive, and determine the best time for the intervention, we will first mount a descriptive population-based survey which will include all women under age 50 diagnosed with breast cancer during a six month period. We anticipate a sample of 360 women; half will be interviewed within the first three months of diagnosis and the other half between five and seven months after diagnosis. In addition, five ethnically matched focus groups will be conducted to gather qualitative data. The significance of approach lies in targeting a culturally diverse population, providing a potentially cost- effective intervention which has been designed to be culturally sensitive by a multi-ethnic, multi-disciplinary team.
| Fernandes-Taylor, Sara; Bloom, Joan R (2011) Post-treatment regret among young breast cancer survivors. Psychooncology 20:506-16 |
| Fobair, Pat; Stewart, Susan L; Chang, Subo et al. (2006) Body image and sexual problems in young women with breast cancer. Psychooncology 15:579-94 |
