Abstract P2-12-10: Joven & Fuerte (J&F): Program for young women with breast cancer in Mexico strongly aids in supporting young patients’ needs and easing their illness process
Authors: Villarreal-Garza Cynthia , Platas Alejandra , Miaja Melina , Garcia-Garcia Marisol , Mesa-Chavez Fernanda , Fonseca Alan , Pineda Claudia , de la Rosa-Pacheco Sylvia , Bargallo-Rocha Enrique , Rodriguez-Gomez David , Mohar Alejandro 
Published: March 2020

Background: Mexican young women with breast cancer (YWBC) are a distinct population with particular characteristics and special needs that are not entirely known and are therefore not systematically addressed. J&F is the first program of its kind in Latin America and intends to meet the needs of YWBC in terms of information delivery and support on issues such as fertility, genetics and psychology, as well as to characterize this group by establishing a prospective cohort. The aim of this study was to evaluate patients’ outlook and satisfaction with the services provided by J&F to determine its strengths and areas of opportunity in order to implement strategies to better fulfill patients’ needs.

Methods: This cross-sectional study analyzed patients’ satisfaction with J&F at Instituto Nacional de Cancerologia at Mexico City and TecSalud at Monterrey. For this matter, an online survey, kindly provided by the PYNK program, was adapted and piloted to fit the assessment of the J&F provided services. An invitation to anonymously complete it was offered via a messaging application to patients who had been enrolled in J&F for ≥6 months. The questionnaire included multiple choice, Likert scale and open-ended questions exploring patients’ demographics and evaluation of the program’s information delivery and support services, as well as their perspectives of the program’s research component. Likert scale answers were dichotomized to ease analysis, establishing a cut-off point according to their distribution; and free text answers were codified after selecting the most frequently addressed topics. Descriptive statistics, t-student and ANOVA were used for analysis.

Results: Of 484 eligible patients, 134 (28%) agreed to answer the survey. Median age at diagnosis was 35 years. A considerable proportion had higher education (78%), were unpartnered (37%) and childless (26%). The timing, clarity and usefulness of the information provided by J&F were each described as good/very good by &gt;80% for the written format and ≥98% for the verbal one. More than 82% of patients reported being very satisfied (≥9/10) with the psychological support, genetic assessment and support groups; and 74%, with the educational workshops and the Whatsapp patients’ group. The program overall was useful/very useful according to 97% of patients and aided 82% to better cope with their illness. Patients found that the most useful services were psychological support, information resources and support groups, for 36%, 19% and 11%, respectively. The number of support services used by patients was significantly associated with their perception of the program’s usefulness (p=0.008) and its aid in easing their illness process (p=0.009). Regarding fertility issues, 81% of patients recalled being informed about the potential effects of cancer treatment on fertility and 45% about preservation strategies. Notably, 33% of patients wished to have more children at diagnosis and 29% wanted to preserve fertility, with J&F supporting 20% of them to undergo a preservation procedure. Patients reported that J&F could improve by offering more educational workshops (31%) and by giving more dissemination to its support services (21%). Finally, 58% of patients were unaware of the J&F ongoing research component.

Conclusions: Patient satisfaction with J&F is very high, reflecting that the program is achieving its main goals by meeting Mexican YWBC’s needs by providing clear and useful means of information and support services in a low-resource setting. Also, it is relevant to promote J&F services and highlight its research component to enhance the program’s supportive reach. It is imperative to keep efforts to guarantee the program’s continuity and advocate for the extension of its benefits to other oncologic centers.

Citation Format: Cynthia Villarreal-Garza, Alejandra Platas, Melina Miaja, Marisol Garcia-Garcia, Fernanda Mesa-Chavez, Alan Fonseca, Claudia Pineda, Sylvia de la Rosa-Pacheco, Enrique Bargallo-Rocha, David Rodriguez-Gomez, Alejandro Mohar. Joven & Fuerte (J&F): Program for young women with breast cancer in Mexico strongly aids in supporting young patients’ needs and easing their illness process [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 2019 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium; 2019 Dec 10-14; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2020;80(4 Suppl):Abstract nr P2-12-10.