Abstract A45: Impact of a bilingual education intervention on the quality of life of Latina breast cancer survivors.
Authors: Juarez Gloria , Uman Gwen , Ferrell Betty , Hurria Arti 
Published: August 2014

Introduction: Breast cancer (BC) is the most frequently occurring cancer and is the leading cause of cancer related deaths among Latin women in the United States. Although there is a large body of quality of life (QOL) research addressing breast cancer QOL, relatively few studies have focused on the post-treatment experience of Latina breast cancer survivors (BCS). The purpose of this pilot study was test the effectiveness of an English/Spanish education intervention Nueva Luz (New Light) to improve Quality of life (QOL) of Latina breast cancer survivors (BCS) after completing primary treatment for breast cancer.

Theoretical Approach: The model of breast QOL in cancer survivorship forms the theoretical underpinnings for this study.

Methods: A two-group, prospective longitudinal randomized controlled trial was used. A cohort of 52 Latina BCS was recruited. Women were randomly assigned to the experimental or attention control group. Subjects in both groups completed measures of QOL, uncertainty, distress and acculturation at baseline, at three and six month's follow-up. The attention control condition involved usual care provided to patients. The experimental group consisted of four one hour face-to-face sessions, either in English or Spanish, delivered by a bilingual/bicultural nurse researcher. Length of the intervention was tailored to the patient's needs and was approximately 40- 60 minutes in length. In addition to the intervention, participants received a bilingual education packet in a notebook format. Upon completion of the four sessions, monthly support through telephone- follow-up sessions was provided.

Results: After controlling for acculturation, the four dimensions of QOL increased slightly in both groups or remained unchanged, without significant group by time interaction. The social and psychological well-being subscales had the lowest scores for both groups, followed by physical well-being and spiritual well-being. For total QOL, although the group by time interaction was not statistically significant, the post hoc difference between time 2 and time 3 in the experimental group approached significance (p=.052), with a slight increase in total QOL

Conclusions: Findings provide preliminary insight into the impact of a tailored bilingual education intervention on the QOL of Latina BCS. Results suggest that this is an understudied cancer population with multiple QOL and survivorship issues and concerns that might put them at risk for poor QOL and adjusting to survivorship, especially when compared to Non-Latina White breast cancer survivors. Non-English speaking and low acculturated Latinas are more vulnerable to poor QOL, increased distress and may benefit from bilingual education interventions that consider core cultural values and beliefs.

Note: This abstract was not presented at the conference.

Citation Format: Gloria Juarez, Gwen Uman, Betty Ferrell, Arti Hurria. Impact of a bilingual education intervention on the quality of life of Latina breast cancer survivors. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Fifth AACR Conference on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved; 2012 Oct 27-30; San Diego, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2012;21(10 Suppl):Abstract nr A45.