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Videos increased clinical trial awareness among Latina patients with breast cancer
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Latina patients with breast cancer who watched computer-based videos demonstrated significantly greater awareness and understanding of clinical trials than patients assigned standard care, according to study results presented at the American Association for Cancer Research Conference on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved in San Antonio.
“Latinos represent 17% of the US population but only 5.6% of participants in NCI treatment clinical trials,” Patricia Chalela, MPH, DrPH, assistant professor at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, said in a press release. “Underrepresentation of minorities in clinical trials results in disparities of cancer outcomes and limits generalizability of the findings because researchers cannot study how minority patients respond to new treatments.”
Chalela and colleagues randomly assigned 112 Hispanic women with breast cancer to one of two protocols.
Half of the women watched culturally sensitive, individually tailored, computer-based videos. They also received a bilingual low-literacy booklet and assistance from a patient navigator. Patients in the control arm received usual-care clinical trial information materials.
Results from the preliminary analysis suggested that women assigned to the intervention arm demonstrated significantly higher awareness of clinical trials — including their purpose, benefits and risks — than those assigned to the control group.
The proportion of women in the intervention arm who took steps to participate in clinical trials nearly doubled, from 38% at baseline to 75% after the intervention.
“We hope that computer-based videos specifically tailored for Latinos will provide an effective strategy to increase Latina breast cancer patients’ knowledge, understanding and participation in clinical trials, although this needs confirming in larger studies,” Chalela said.
For more information:
Chalela P. Abstract #A5. Presented at: American Association for Cancer Research Conference on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved; Nov. 9-12, 2014; San Antonio.
Disclosure: The study was funded by Susan G. Komen, the Cancer Therapy and Research Center at the UT Health Science Center San Antonio and Redes En Acción, an NCI-funded cancer research network based at the Institute for Health Promotion Research at UT Health Science Center San Antonio. The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.