Abstract P4-12-12: Assessing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on cancer treatment decision-making and care experiences
Authors: Noura Alsafar, Desiree Hao, Nimira Alimohamed, Sunil Samnani, Sasha Lupichuk
Journal: Cancer Research (2022)

Abstract BACKGROUND: While the COVID-19 pandemic has reshaped how oncology is practiced, we sought to understand itseffects on treatment decision-making and care experiences amongst cancer patients at the Tom BakerCancer Centre in Calgary, Canada. METHODS: A 24 item, cross-sectional survey was developed based on literature review and iterative feedback fromoncology physicians, nurses, and a patient advisor. Survey domains included fear of COVID-19 andperceived risk, uptake of COVID-19 public health measures, cancer treatment decision-making duringthe pandemic, and cancer care experiences during the pandemic. Demographic, cancer and treatment-related information was obtained from the electronic medical record for patients who consented andcompleted the survey. In the first quarter of 2021, 161 patients accrued including 44 breast cancerpatients. The cohort characteristics and survey responses were summarized using descriptive statistics. RESULTS: For the 44 participants with breast cancer, all were female and the median age was 59 years (range 35-83 years). Our breast cancer cohort was almost evenly split between those with stage I-III (45.5%) andthose with metastatic disease (54.5%). Time since diagnosis was as follows: less than 1 year (17patients), 1-3 years (10 patients), 3-5 years (5 patients), and more than 5 years (9 patients). Treatmentsreceived since declaration of the pandemic included: surgery (21 patients), radiation (17 patients),chemotherapy (25 patients), endocrine therapy (25 patients), and other systemic therapies such as boneand anti-HER2 agents (15 patients). Just over half of the participants (54.5%) agreed or strongly agreedthat they were at increased risk of contracting COVID19; however, fewer patients expressed beinguncomfortable thinking about COVID-19 (45.4%), afraid of COVID-19 (38.6%), or fearful of dying fromCOVID19 (31.8%). The vast majority (&amp;gt;93%) of patients followed public health recommendations formitigating the risk of contracting COVID-19 (i.e. masking, frequent hand washing/sanitization, and socialdistancing) and 70.4% expressed a willingness to receive the vaccine when available. Of therespondents, 19 had undergone testing for COVID-19 at least once and 3 tested positive. Only 2 patientsreported that their surgical course was altered due to the pandemic and no patients declinedtreatments or perceived delays or modifications in therapies otherwise. Of 25 breast participants whohad experienced a cancer-related telehealth appointment during the pandemic, 21 (84%) agreed orstrongly agreed with being satisfied with the encounter. CONCLUSION: The COVID-19 pandemic caused minimal perceived disruption to care amongst a small cohort of breastcancer patients being treated at our centre. While experience with a cancer-related telehealthappointment was not universal, our findings support acceptability of its use. Citation Format: Noura Alsafar, Desiree Hao, Nimira Alimohamed, Sunil Samnani, Sasha Lupichuk. Assessing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on cancer treatment decision-making and care experiences [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 2021 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium; 2021 Dec 7-10; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2022;82(4 Suppl):Abstract nr P4-12-12.