Abstract A32: Impact of Nueva Vida's model on disparate levels of quality of life, distress, and self-efficacy in Latinas with breast cancer
Authors: Darling Margaret LG , Campos Claudia , Caicedo Larisa , BrintzenhofeSzoc Karlynn , Zabora James R. , Blinka Marcela , Gonzalez Florencia 
Published: May 2015

Breast cancer is the most common cancer diagnosis among Latinas, and Hispanic women diagnosed with breast cancer have a higher mortality rate than their white non-Hispanic counterparts. Moreover, Latina survivors appear to have greater distress related to their diagnosis and treatment than non-Latina white women, in large part due to their lower access to care, financial and linguistic barriers, and cultural issues. These concerns have significant influence on women's quality of life (QOL), yet research indicates their impact may be buffered by the presence of mental health and social support services. Research conducted with predominantly non-Latina survivors suggests that social support positively influences women's adjustment to breast cancer by reducing the intensity of their psychological distress, enhancing their optimism and QOL and encouraging treatment adherence. There is, however, an acknowledged gap in the availability of adequate support interventions for minority groups. Nueva Vida is a community-based organization that provides comprehensive psychosocial support to Latinas with cancer in the Washington, DC, area.

Purpose: The goal of this community-based participatory research (CBPR) project is to evaluate the impact of Nueva Vida's model on levels of self-efficacy, psychological distress, and quality of life. The NV model provides a variety of services that include patient navigation, support groups, individual counseling, peer support, and resources and information. This study looked at the impact of this model for one year.

Procedures: This study is a time-series design with Time 1 (T1) data collection on the day of initial contact with NV, time 2 (T2) within 3 - 10 days of initial contact, time 3 (T3) at 4 months, and time 4 (T4) at 12 months. The instruments used in this study include: Cancer Behavior Inventory - Version 2.0 (CBI) measuring self-efficacy, the Brief Symptom Inventory-18 (BSI-18) measuring psychological distress, and the Satisfaction with Life Domains Scale- Breast Cancer (SLDS-BC) measuring QOL. The sample included 92 Latina women diagnosed with breast cancer that contacted NV and agreed to participate in the study. The interventions offered over the course of the twelve months include, individual counseling, various support group participation, patient navigation, and peer support.

Unpublished data: Eighty-seven participants completed data at Time 1, 69 at T2, 64 at T4, and 57 at T4. There was a statistically significant decrease in depression from T1 to T4 (t = 2.131, df = 55, p &lt; .05) and distress from T1 to T4 (t = 2.302, df = 55, p &lt; .05). In addition, there were trends toward significant decrease in anxiety scores from T1 to T4 ( t = 1,827, df, 55, p &lt; .10) and somatization from T1 to T4 (t = 1.784, df = 55, p &lt; .10). There was a statistically significant improvement in QOL from T1 to T4 (t = -3.453, 49, p &lt; .01). There was no change found in self-efficacy.

Conclusions: The findings support the model that NV uses in improving the lives of Latinas diagnosed with breast cancer, demonstrating that a community-based organization with comprehensive social support services can help reduce distress levels and increase QOL. No change in self-efficacy has brought into question the cultural transferability the instrument selected to measure this variable in this population.

Citation Format: Margaret LG Darling, Claudia Campos, Larisa Caicedo, Karlynn BrintzenhofeSzoc, James R. Zabora, Marcela Blinka, Florencia Gonzalez. Impact of Nueva Vida's model on disparate levels of quality of life, distress, and self-efficacy in Latinas with breast cancer. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Sixth AACR Conference: The Science of Cancer Health Disparities; Dec 6–9, 2013; Atlanta, GA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2014;23(11 Suppl):Abstract nr A32. doi:10.1158/1538-7755.DISP13-A32