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Yeager KA, Rosa WE, Belcher SM, Lee SM, Lee H, Bruner DW, Meghani SH. A Qualitative Study of the Pain Experience of Black Individuals With Cancer Taking Long-Acting Opioids. Cancer Nurs 2024; 47:E73-E83. [PMID: 36737858 PMCID: PMC10400728 DOI: 10.1097/ncc.0000000000001197] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/05/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Little is known about the experience of Black individuals with cancer taking long-acting opioids for cancer pain. OBJECTIVE This study aimed to describe the day-to-day experience of living with pain and the experiences of taking opioids for pain management among Black individuals with cancer prescribed with long-acting opioids. METHODS This qualitative descriptive study was part of a larger investigation focused on opioid adherence. Participants (N = 14) were interviewed using a semistructured interview guide. Analysis followed conventional content analysis and constant comparison approaches. Sociodemographics, clinical information, and the Brief Pain Inventory form were collected. RESULTS The majority of the subsample was female (64.3%), not married (78.6%), and with a median age of 52.5 years. Participants were taking either MS Contin (85.7%) or OxyContin (14.3%). The Brief Pain Inventory median "average" pain severity scores and pain interference scores were 5.1/10 (interquartile range [IQR] = 6.1) and 3.5/10 (IQR = 6.7), respectively. Three themes are reported from the analyses: desire for control, barriers to pain relief, and isolation versus connectedness. CONCLUSION Our findings highlight the persistent nature of moderate to severe cancer pain and how pain and its treatment interfere with patients' lives. The findings describe ways that patients learn to manage and exert control over pain despite conflicting attitudes and dealing with opioid stigma. IMPLICATION FOR PRACTICE Clinicians should partner with patients with cancer, especially people of color, who may experience intersecting stigmas related to their cancer pain and opioid use, to best provide an individualized and culturally sensitive pain treatment plan.
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Affiliation(s)
- Katherine A Yeager
- Author Affiliations: Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing (Drs Bruner, Yeager, and H. Lee and Ms S. Lee); Winship Cancer Institute (Drs Bruner and Yeager); Office of the Senior Vice President for Research (Dr Bruner), Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia; Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (Dr Rosa), New York, New York; School of Nursing (Dr Belcher); Palliative Research Center (Dr Belcher), University of Pittsburgh; Hillman Cancer Center, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (Dr Belcher), Pennsylvania; and Department of Biobehavioral Health Sciences, School of Nursing, University of Pennsylvania (Dr Meghani), Philadelphia
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McDonald MW, Bates JE, McCall NS, Goyal S, Liu Y, Rudra S, Remick JS, Tian S, El-Deiry MW, Saba NF, Stokes WA, Swinney E. Insurance Authorization and Access to Proton Therapy for Patients With Head and Neck Cancers. Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys 2023; 116:404-412. [PMID: 36889515 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijrobp.2023.02.033] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/27/2022] [Revised: 02/17/2023] [Accepted: 02/17/2023] [Indexed: 03/08/2023]
Abstract
PURPOSE We evaluated our institutional experience to assess potential racial inequities in insurance coverage for proton therapy in patients with head and neck (HN) cancer. METHODS AND MATERIALS We examined the demographics of 1519 patients with HN cancer seen in consultation at our HN multidisciplinary clinic (HN MDC) and 805 patients for whom a proton insurance authorization was sought (PAS) from January 2020 to June 2022. The prospects for proton therapy insurance authorization were prospectively noted based on each patient's ICD-10 (International Classification of Diseases, 10th Revision) diagnosis code and their specific insurance plan. Proton-unfavorable (PU) insurance were those plans whose policy describes proton beam therapy as "experimental" or "not medically necessary" for the given diagnosis. RESULTS For patients seen in our HN MDC, Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) were significantly more likely to have PU insurance than non-Hispanic White (NHW) patients (24.9% vs 18.4%, P = .005). In multivariable analysis including race, average income of residence ZIP code, and Medicare eligibility age, BIPOC patients had an odds ratio of 1.25 for PU insurance (P = .041). In the PAS cohort, while there was no difference in the percentage of patients receiving insurance approval for proton therapy between NHW and BIPOC populations (88% vs 88.2%, P = .80), for patients with PU insurance, the median time to determination was significantly longer (median, 15.5 days), and the median time to start any radiation of any modality was longer (46 vs 35 days, P = .08). Compared with NHW patients, the median time from consultation to start of radiation therapy was longer for BIPOC patients (37 vs 43 days, P = .01). CONCLUSIONS BIPOC patients were significantly more likely to have insurance plans unfavorable to proton therapy coverage. These PU insurance plans were associated with a longer median time to determination, a lower approval rate for proton therapy, and a longer time to start radiation of any modality.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mark W McDonald
- Department of Radiation Oncology, Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia.
| | - James E Bates
- Department of Radiation Oncology, Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia
| | - Neal S McCall
- Department of Radiation Oncology, Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia
| | - Subir Goyal
- Biostatistics Shared Resource, Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia
| | - Yuan Liu
- Biostatistics Shared Resource, Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia; Department of Biostatistics and Bioinformatics, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia
| | - Soumon Rudra
- Department of Radiation Oncology, Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia
| | - Jill S Remick
- Department of Radiation Oncology, Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia
| | - Sibo Tian
- Department of Radiation Oncology, Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia
| | - Mark W El-Deiry
- Department of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia
| | - Nabil F Saba
- Department of Hematology and Medical Oncology, Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia
| | - William A Stokes
- Department of Radiation Oncology, Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia
| | - Erica Swinney
- Department of Radiation Oncology, Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia
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Savla B, Hamza MA, Yacubovich D, Cobbs S, Petrovska L, Scilla KA, Burrows W, Mehra R, Miller RC, Rolfo C, Bentzen SM, Mohindra P, Vyfhuis MAL. The Effect of Body Mass Index and Residence in Food Priority Areas on Patterns-of-Care and Cancer Outcomes in Patients With Stage III Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer. Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys 2023; 116:50-59. [PMID: 36720317 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijrobp.2023.01.032] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/11/2022] [Revised: 01/23/2023] [Accepted: 01/23/2023] [Indexed: 01/30/2023]
Abstract
PURPOSE Patients living in food priority areas (FPAs), where access to healthy meals is challenging, may be at greater risk of nutritional deficits, leading to poorer cancer outcomes. Currently, there are no published data analyzing how FPAs affect patterns-of-care or outcomes for patients with locally advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). We aimed to analyze the effect of residing in an FPA on treatments rendered and cancer outcomes in patients with stage III NSCLC treated at a single institution. METHODS AND MATERIALS This is a retrospective study of 573 patients with locally advanced NSCLC consecutively treated from January 2000 to January 2020. χ2 and Mann-Whitney U tests were performed to determine differences between select variables. Kaplan-Meier analysis and Cox proportional hazard models were used to analyze overall survival (OS) and freedom from recurrence. Cox regression with forward model selection was used for multivariate analysis. RESULTS Thirty-two percent of patients resided in an FPA (n = 183) and were more likely to self-identify as Black (P < .0001), single (P < .001), <60 years of age (P = .001), and uninsured (P < .0001), with a lower median income (P < .001). Patients in FPAs also had lower mean pre-chemoradiation (CRT) albumin (P = .002), lower pre-CRT body mass index (BMI) (P = .026), and were less likely to receive trimodality therapy (P ≤ .001) compared with patients not living in FPAs. There was no difference in OS or freedom from recurrence between the 2 cohorts. However, in patients with a normal BMI, either pre-CRT (median OS, 18.4 vs 25.0 months; P = .005) or after CRT (15.1 vs 28.1 months, P = .002), residing in an FPA resulted in an OS detriment. CONCLUSIONS We demonstrated a clear socioeconomic divide in our patient population with stage III NSCLC, where residing in FPAs was associated with less-aggressive therapy and an OS detriment for patients with a normal-weight BMI. We are currently conducting a prospective study characterizing the nutritional needs of patients, particularly those who live in FPAs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bansi Savla
- Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Maryland Medical Center, Baltimore, Maryland
| | - M A Hamza
- Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Maryland Medical Center, Baltimore, Maryland
| | - D Yacubovich
- University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland
| | - S Cobbs
- University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland
| | - L Petrovska
- University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
| | - K A Scilla
- Department of Medicine, Division of Hematology/Oncology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland
| | - W Burrows
- Division of Thoracic Surgery, University of Maryland, Baltimore, Maryland
| | - R Mehra
- Department of Medicine, Division of Hematology/Oncology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland
| | - R C Miller
- Department of Radiation Oncology, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, Florida
| | - C Rolfo
- Center for Thoracic Oncology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York
| | - S M Bentzen
- Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland; Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, Biostatistics and Bioinformatics Division, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland
| | - P Mohindra
- Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland
| | - Melissa A L Vyfhuis
- Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland; Chesapeake Oncology and Hematology Associates, Glen Burnie, Maryland.
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Hutten RJ, Odei B, Rivera A, Suneja G. Achieving Health Equity in Radiation Oncology-Moving From Awareness to Action. Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys 2022; 114:195-197. [PMID: 36055318 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijrobp.2022.06.065] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/08/2022] [Accepted: 06/09/2022] [Indexed: 10/14/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Ryan J Hutten
- Department of Radiation Oncology, Huntsman Cancer Institute, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah
| | - Bismarck Odei
- Department of Radiation Oncology, Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio
| | - Amanda Rivera
- Department of Radiation Oncology, Montefiore Medical Center, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York
| | - Gita Suneja
- Department of Radiation Oncology, Huntsman Cancer Institute, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah; Department of Population and Health Sciences, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah.
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