ASCO Quality 2023: How Well Are Physicians Communicating With Women Who Have Breast Cancer?

By: Joseph Cupolo
Posted: Thursday, November 9, 2023

Results from the iCanCare study, a longitudinal look at engagement and communication by primary care physicians (PCPs) with women diagnosed with breast cancer, indicated that participating patients experienced worse communication and engagement with their physicians over time in survivorship, despite reporting high engagement and communication during initial treatment. Megan A. Mullins, PhD, MPH, of the Peter O’Donnell Jr. School of Public Health, UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, and colleagues shared their survey findings at the 2023 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Quality Care Symposium (Abstract 475).

“In this sample of 807 women, most women reported strong PCP engagement (62.7%) and strong PCP communication (58.6%) during treatment. However, over time, 40.4% reported worse PCP communication, and 38.5% reported worse PCP engagement in survivorship compared with treatment. In addition, women who had comorbidities and women who changed their PCP between treatment and survivorship more commonly reported worse communication and engagement,” the investigators reported.

Women were surveyed during initial treatment and again 6 years later during survivorship (2021–2022) At both time points, respondents were asked to rate on a 5-point Likert scale how often they talked with their PCP about their breast cancer follow-up (communication), and how informed their PCP was about their breast cancer (engagement). Of note, women who had comorbidities and women who changed their PCP between treatment and survivorship more commonly reported worse communication and engagement (P < .05). Fewer women who had chemotherapy reported worse engagement, and more Black and Asian women reported worse communication (P < .05).

“Effective engagement and communication are key to delivery of high-quality survivorship care. Future work focused on maintaining survivor-PCP relationships over time is needed,” concluded Dr. Mullins and colleagues.

Disclosure: Dr. Mullins reported no conflicts of interest. For full disclosures of the other study authors, visit coi.asco.org.

2023 ASCO Quality Care Symposium