Abstract A013: Parental health communication and satisfaction with medical providers of childhood cancer survivors: Differences by race/ethnicity and language
Authors: Ochoa Carol Y. , Baezconde-Garbanati Lourdes , Milam Joel 
Published: August 2020

Purpose: Among childhood cancer survivors (CCS), parents inherently take on the role of informal caregivers. Effective communication between patient and provider or caregiver contributes to better treatment decision making and patient health outcomes. However, few studies have examined the frequency and scope of communication among childhood cancer survivors, caregivers, and medical providers. The purpose of this study was to examine the association between Hispanic ethnicity and language spoken with communication and satisfaction with their CCS health care provider. We hypothesized that Spanish-speaking Hispanic parents would have more barriers with provider communication and would be less satisfied with medical providers than English-speaking Hispanics and non-Hispanic parents. We also hypothesized that Spanish-speaking Hispanic parents would have greater communication with their child about their diagnosis.

Methods: We analyzed data from parents of CCS, who were selected from the Los Angeles Cancer Surveillance Program and had been diagnosed between 2000 and 2007 at Children's Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA) or Miller Children's Hospital, Long Beach. We used ANOVA and chi-square statistics to test for differences in demographic characteristics.

Results: A total of 173 parents participated in this study, including 50 Spanish-speaking Hispanics, 49 English-speaking Hispanics, and 74 English-speaking non-Hispanics. Spanish-speaking Hispanics were younger, had less than high school education, were lower income, and were less likely to have health care coverage compared to English-speaking Hispanics and non-Hispanic parents. Spanish-speaking Hispanic parents were more likely to report talking to their child about his/her needs for cancer-related follow-up care (p&lt;.001) and health insurance issues (p=.01). Regardless of language spoken, Hispanic parents were more likely to receive health information about their child's cancer from hospital sources. Spanish-speaking Hispanic parents were more likely than English-speaking Hispanics and non-Hispanic parents to report difficulties with written information (p=.02) and understanding doctors due to language barriers (p=.003). However, there was no statistically significant difference by ethnicity/language in parent satisfaction with their child's health care provider or in receiving a survivorship care plan.

Conclusion: Despite reporting similar rates of satisfaction with CCS medical providers, Spanish-speaking parents were more likely to report communication barriers with providers. Nevertheless, in order to build sustainable relationships with providers, language barriers need to be addressed to improve communication effectiveness. In future studies, we will explore the role of parent-child and parent-provider communication on their health outcomes.

Citation Format: Carol Y. Ochoa, Lourdes Baezconde-Garbanati, Joel Milam. Parental health communication and satisfaction with medical providers of childhood cancer survivors: Differences by race/ethnicity and language [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Eleventh AACR Conference on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved; 2018 Nov 2-5; New Orleans, LA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2020;29(6 Suppl):Abstract nr A013.