Published in:
01-08-2018 | Epidemiology
Personal and clinical social support and adherence to adjuvant endocrine therapy among hormone receptor-positive breast cancer patients in an integrated health care system
Published in: Breast Cancer Research and Treatment | Issue 3/2018
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Purpose
We evaluated associations between personal and clinical social support and non-adherence to adjuvant endocrine therapy (AET) in a large, Northern California breast cancer (BC) cohort from an integrated healthcare network.
Methods
This study included 3382 women from the Pathways Study diagnosed from 2005 to 2013 with stages I–III hormone receptor-positive BC and who responded to the Medical Outcomes Study Social Support and Interpersonal Processes of Care surveys, approximately 2 months post-diagnosis. We used logistic regression to evaluate associations between tertiles of social support and non-initiation (< 2 consecutive prescription fills within a year after diagnosis). Among those who initiated treatment, we used proportional hazards regression to evaluate associations with discontinuation (≥ 90 day gap) and non-adherence (< 80% medical possession ratio).
Results
Of those who initiated AET (79%), approximately one-fourth either discontinued AET or were non-adherent. AET non-initiation was more likely in women with moderate (adjusted OR 1.18, 95% CI 0.96–1.46) or low (OR 1.30, 95% CI 1.05–1.62) versus high personal social support (P trend = 0.02). Women with moderate (HR 1.20, 95% CI 0.99–1.45) or low (HR 1.32, 95% CI 1.09–1.60) personal social support were also more likely to discontinue treatment (P trend = 0.01). Furthermore, women with moderate (HR 1.25, 95% CI 1.02–1.53) or low (HR 1.38, 95% CI 1.12–1.70) personal social support had higher non-adherence (P trend = 0.007). Associations with clinical social support and outcomes were similar. Notably, high clinical social support mitigated the risk of discontinuation when patients’ personal support was moderate or low (P value = 0.04).
Conclusions
Women with low personal or clinical social support had higher AET non-adherence. Clinician teams may need to fill support gaps that compromise treatment adherence.