Abstract 5276: COVID-19 and breast cancer care in Ireland: A qualitative study to explore the perspective of breast cancer patients on their health and health care
Authors: Myers Charlotte L. , Waldron Catherine , Bennett Kathleen , Cahir Caitriona 
Published: June 2022

COVID-19 has heightened social inequalities, particularly for those with non-communicable diseases (NCDs), such as cancer, and health services for NCDs have been significantly disrupted. Breast cancer (BC) is the most common cancer for women in Ireland, and the impact of the pandemic on BC care needs to be established. The purpose of this study is to explore the health care experience of women with BC during the pandemic and to investigate whether these experiences vary based on social determinants of health (SDH).

The study included semi-structured qualitative interviews with 37 women who had previously participated in a related quantitative study. Individuals were selected through stratified purposive sampling to ensure data was available on information-rich cases based on SDH. Interviews were conducted in early 2021 and thematic analysis was conducted using NVivo software.

Three major themes, with additional subthemes, emerged from analysis: breast cancer services; breast cancer support and communication; and mental well-being. There were differences in women’s experiences within the themes that were dependent upon the SDH, including socio-economic status (SES), region, and time since diagnosis. For example, most women experienced disrupted BC services throughout the pandemic, but disruptions were more severe for women of lower SES. Table 1 provides quotation examples as evidence for these different experiences.

The pandemic has impacted women with BC considerably, but the impact differed by social inequalities and time of diagnosis. This study highlights areas for improvement in the context of BC care in Ireland and the findings will inform further policy and practice.

Table 1. General experiences and variation of experience based on SDH for women receiving BC services during COVID-19 Diagnostic/screening services Active treatment services Post-treatment services General experiences “I felt a lump… so I went to my own GP. She saw me and she faxed a letter straight into [cancer centre]. Within a week, I was in [cancer centre] having seen the doctors and then followed on with biopsies and mammograms.” “Well, it was a stressful period of time because I felt it was growing. And I couldn''t do anything about it. And the hospitals weren''t really taking patients… But eventually I got called again into the… clinic. I had my operation there.” “…the safety net of going in and being told this is all normal, you’re okay. And yeah, that’s gone, even though I know I can pick up the phone if I want to. But it’s not the same.” Experience based on SDH “What happened was… I got an appointment sent out for October. And I phoned them and they said to me look, there’s probably other women that met the criteria, that needed the mammogram before me.” (low SES) “I’d wait for three months or such time until COVID was over… before he would do anything. And I, at that time, I just said “no, I can’t wait that long, that’s too long.” (low SES) “I haven''t had an MRI in about a year and I meant to be getting them every six months. So then when I did, [the lump] just showed up.” (low SES)

Citation Format: Charlotte L. Myers, Catherine Waldron, Kathleen Bennett, Caitriona Cahir. COVID-19 and breast cancer care in Ireland: A qualitative study to explore the perspective of breast cancer patients on their health and health care [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2022; 2022 Apr 8-13. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2022;82(12_Suppl):Abstract nr 5276.