Assessing the relationship between symptoms and health care utilization in colorectal cancer survivors of different sexual orientations.
Support Care Cancer
; 29(10): 5821-5830, 2021 Oct.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-33742243
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE:
The purpose of this study was to determine the association of physical and psychological symptoms with health care utilization in sexual minority and heterosexual colorectal cancer survivors.METHODS:
Four hundred eighteen colorectal cancer survivors who were in remission an average of 3 years after their diagnosis were surveyed about their non-emergency health care visits during the preceding 3 months. Survivors reported whether they had experienced any of 21 symptoms common among colorectal cancer survivors in the past week. The relation between having had two or more health care visits in the preceding 3 months and symptoms experienced was assessed using logistic regression, controlling for cancer registry, sexual orientation, sex, age, race/ethnicity, income, and comorbidities.RESULTS:
Of the survivors, 12% reported no symptoms, while 12% reported six or more symptoms. Sexual minority survivors reported significantly more weight concerns and more health-related and general anxiety as well as worse body image than heterosexual survivors. Frequent worrying about weight and experiencing sore skin around the anal area or stoma were the two symptoms that significantly contributed towards explaining survivors' increased health care utilization.CONCLUSION:
Weight concerns, which are more common among the heaviest survivors, may prompt survivors to seek help from health care providers, which may lead to more frequent visits. On the other hand, some symptoms, despite their prevalence, had no relationship with the frequency of health care visits, raising questions about whether survivors share these concerns with providers.Palavras-chave
Texto completo:
1
Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Neoplasias Colorretais
/
Sobreviventes de Câncer
Tipo de estudo:
Diagnostic_studies
/
Risk_factors_studies
Aspecto:
Implementation_research
/
Patient_preference
Limite:
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Support Care Cancer
Assunto da revista:
NEOPLASIAS
/
SERVICOS DE SAUDE
Ano de publicação:
2021
Tipo de documento:
Article
País de afiliação:
Estados Unidos
País de publicação:
ALEMANHA
/
ALEMANIA
/
DE
/
DEUSTCHLAND
/
GERMANY