Latinas, Blacks More Dissatisfied Than Whites With Breast Cancer Decisions, Study Finds

Main Category: Breast Cancer
Article Date: 07 Nov 2008 - 9:00 PDT

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Latina and African-American breast cancer patients -- especially Latinas who prefer to speak Spanish -- are more likely than white patients to be dissatisfied with the decision-making process of how to proceed with a breast cancer diagnosis, according to a University of Michigan study, Reuters Health reports. According to Reuters Health, women vary in how they prefer to make decisions about their breast cancer treatment, including whether to have a mastectomy or a lumpectomy. Some women prefer to have a larger role in choosing treatment, while other want a smaller part in the decision, Reuters Health reports. For the study, researchers investigated whether women's perspectives of their treatment decision varied by ethnicity. The study analyzed decisions by 877 women with early-stage breast cancer, of whom 24.5% were Spanish-speaking Latinas, 24% were African-American, 26.6% were white and 20.5% were English-speaking Latinas.

Although the decision-making process was similar among the four groups, the differences in satisfaction with the decisions were "stark," Reuters reports. Spanish-speaking Latinas were 5.5 times more likely than whites to be dissatisfied with the decision-making process and 4.1 times more likely than whites to feel regret about the decision. English-speaking Latinas were 2.6 times more likely than whites to be dissatisfied and twice as likely to feel regret, while blacks were twice as likely as whites to experience dissatisfaction or regret, the study found.

Study author Sarah Hawley said that the study was not designed with the intent of examining reasons for dissatisfaction but added that women who were not satisfied with their treatment may have wanted their families to have had a larger role in the process or had cultural concerns that were not addressed. Hawley said the results "suggest that additional effort may be needed by clinicians to ensure that information is understandable and culturally appropriate and improve the decision making for all breast cancer patients" (Harding, Reuters, 11/4).

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