TY - JOUR
T1 - Identifying cultural, demographic, personal health and cancer-related barriers to integrative oncology care
T2 - a retrospective case–cohort study
AU - Samuels, Noah
AU - Cohen, Neora
AU - Katz, Daniela
AU - Ben-Arye, Eran
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.
PY - 2023/9
Y1 - 2023/9
N2 - Purpose: Integrative oncology (IO) provides complementary and integrative medicine within conventional supportive and palliative cancer care. The present study set out to identify barriers to attending an integrative physician (IP) consultation, provided without charge within an IO treatment program. Study methods: Electronic files of adult oncology patients undergoing chemotherapy were studied. Patient-related characteristics were examined to identify factors associated with attendance at the IP consultation: socio-demographic (age, gender, country of birth, place of residence, primary language spoken); health- related (BMI, smoking, independent functioning); and cancer- related (primary tumor site, localized vs. metastatic). Results: Only 257 of the 1912 patients studied (13.4%) attended the IP consultation, with female patients more likely to attend (p < 0.001), as well as younger patients (p = 0.002); those residing outside the Jerusalem municipality (p = 0.008); and patients whose primary language was Hebrew (p < 0.001). Non-smokers and functionally independent patients were also more likely to attend (p = 0.007 and 0.008, respectively), as were those diagnosed with breast/gynecological (p = 0.005) or gastrointestinal tumors (p = 0.002). Multivariate analysis showed a significantly greater likelihood of attending the consultation among females (OR 1.619, 95% CI 1.065–2.460; p = 0.024); younger patients (OR 1.019, 95% CI 1.007–1.031; p = 0.001); non-Arabic speakers (OR 8.220, 95% CI 3.310–20.413; p < 0.001); and patients diagnosed with a tumor other than lung cancer (OR 2.954, 95% CI 1.259–6.933; p = 0.013). Conclusion: Further prospective research addressing socio-demographic, personal health- and cancer-related characteristics of oncology patients is needed to address potential barriers to the provision of IO care within a diverse, equitable and inclusive setting of care.
AB - Purpose: Integrative oncology (IO) provides complementary and integrative medicine within conventional supportive and palliative cancer care. The present study set out to identify barriers to attending an integrative physician (IP) consultation, provided without charge within an IO treatment program. Study methods: Electronic files of adult oncology patients undergoing chemotherapy were studied. Patient-related characteristics were examined to identify factors associated with attendance at the IP consultation: socio-demographic (age, gender, country of birth, place of residence, primary language spoken); health- related (BMI, smoking, independent functioning); and cancer- related (primary tumor site, localized vs. metastatic). Results: Only 257 of the 1912 patients studied (13.4%) attended the IP consultation, with female patients more likely to attend (p < 0.001), as well as younger patients (p = 0.002); those residing outside the Jerusalem municipality (p = 0.008); and patients whose primary language was Hebrew (p < 0.001). Non-smokers and functionally independent patients were also more likely to attend (p = 0.007 and 0.008, respectively), as were those diagnosed with breast/gynecological (p = 0.005) or gastrointestinal tumors (p = 0.002). Multivariate analysis showed a significantly greater likelihood of attending the consultation among females (OR 1.619, 95% CI 1.065–2.460; p = 0.024); younger patients (OR 1.019, 95% CI 1.007–1.031; p = 0.001); non-Arabic speakers (OR 8.220, 95% CI 3.310–20.413; p < 0.001); and patients diagnosed with a tumor other than lung cancer (OR 2.954, 95% CI 1.259–6.933; p = 0.013). Conclusion: Further prospective research addressing socio-demographic, personal health- and cancer-related characteristics of oncology patients is needed to address potential barriers to the provision of IO care within a diverse, equitable and inclusive setting of care.
KW - Complementary and integrative medicine
KW - Diversity, equity and inclusion
KW - Integrative oncology
KW - Integrative physician consultation
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85160849390&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s00432-023-04912-x
DO - 10.1007/s00432-023-04912-x
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C2 - 37264264
AN - SCOPUS:85160849390
SN - 0171-5216
VL - 149
SP - 10143
EP - 10148
JO - Journal of Cancer Research and Clinical Oncology
JF - Journal of Cancer Research and Clinical Oncology
IS - 12
ER -
