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Tosetti I, Kuper H. Do people with disabilities experience disparities in cancer care? A systematic review. PLoS One 2023; 18:e0285146. [PMID: 38091337 PMCID: PMC10718463 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0285146] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/15/2023] [Accepted: 11/15/2023] [Indexed: 12/18/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Over 1.3 billion people, or 16% of the world's population, live with some form of disability. Recent studies have reported that people with disabilities (PwD) might not be receiving state-of-the-art treatment for cancer as their non-disabled peers; our objective was to systematically review this topic. METHODS A systematic review was undertaken to compare cancer outcomes and quality of cancer care between adults with and without disabilities (NIHR Prospero register ID number: CRD42022281506). A search of the literature was performed in July 2022 across five databases: EMBASE, Medline, Cochrane Library, Web of Science and CINAHL databases. Peer-reviewed quantitative research articles, published in English from 2000 to 2022, with interventional or observational study designs, comparing cancer outcomes between a sample of adult patients with disabilities and a sample without disabilities were included. Studies focused on cancer screening and not treatment were excluded, as well as editorials, commentaries, opinion papers, reviews, case reports, case series under 10 patients and conference abstracts. Studies were evaluated by one reviewer for risk of bias based on a set of criteria according to the SIGN 50 guidelines. A narrative synthesis was conducted according to the Cochrane SWiM guidelines, with tables summarizing study characteristics and outcomes. This research received no external funding. RESULTS Thirty-one studies were included in the systematic review. Compared to people without disabilities, PwD had worse cancer outcomes, in terms of poorer survival and higher overall and cancer-specific mortality. There was also evidence that PwD received poorer quality cancer care, including lower access to state-of-the-art care or curative-intent therapies, treatment delays, undertreatment or excessively invasive treatment, worse access to in-hospital services, less specialist healthcare utilization, less access to pain medications and inadequate end-of-life quality of care. DISCUSSION Limitations of this work include the exclusion of qualitative research, no assessment of publication bias, selection performed by only one reviewer, results from high-income countries only, no meta-analysis and a high risk of bias in 15% of included studies. In spite of these limitations, our results show that PwD often experience severe disparities in cancer care with less guideline-consistent care and higher mortality than people without disabilities. These findings raise urgent questions about how to ensure equitable care for PwD; in order to prevent avoidable morbidity and mortality, cancer care programs need to be evaluated and urgently improved, with specific training of clinical staff, more disability inclusive research, better communication and shared decision-making with patients and elimination of physical, social and cultural barriers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Irene Tosetti
- M.Sc. Public Health, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London, United Kingdom
| | - Hannah Kuper
- International Centre for Evidence in Disability, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London, United Kingdom
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Chan RJ, Milch VE, Crawford-Williams F, Agbejule OA, Joseph R, Johal J, Dick N, Wallen MP, Ratcliffe J, Agarwal A, Nekhlyudov L, Tieu M, Al-Momani M, Turnbull S, Sathiaraj R, Keefe D, Hart NH. Patient navigation across the cancer care continuum: An overview of systematic reviews and emerging literature. CA Cancer J Clin 2023; 73:565-589. [PMID: 37358040 DOI: 10.3322/caac.21788] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/27/2022] [Revised: 03/30/2023] [Accepted: 03/31/2023] [Indexed: 06/27/2023] Open
Abstract
Patient navigation is a strategy for overcoming barriers to reduce disparities and to improve access and outcomes. The aim of this umbrella review was to identify, critically appraise, synthesize, and present the best available evidence to inform policy and planning regarding patient navigation across the cancer continuum. Systematic reviews examining navigation in cancer care were identified in the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), PubMed, Embase, Cumulative Index of Nursing and Allied Health (CINAHL), Epistemonikos, and Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews (PROSPERO) databases and in the gray literature from January 1, 2012, to April 19, 2022. Data were screened, extracted, and appraised independently by two authors. The JBI Critical Appraisal Checklist for Systematic Review and Research Syntheses was used for quality appraisal. Emerging literature up to May 25, 2022, was also explored to capture primary research published beyond the coverage of included systematic reviews. Of the 2062 unique records identified, 61 systematic reviews were included. Fifty-four reviews were quantitative or mixed-methods reviews, reporting on the effectiveness of cancer patient navigation, including 12 reviews reporting costs or cost-effectiveness outcomes. Seven qualitative reviews explored navigation needs, barriers, and experiences. In addition, 53 primary studies published since 2021 were included. Patient navigation is effective in improving participation in cancer screening and reducing the time from screening to diagnosis and from diagnosis to treatment initiation. Emerging evidence suggests that patient navigation improves quality of life and patient satisfaction with care in the survivorship phase and reduces hospital readmission in the active treatment and survivorship care phases. Palliative care data were extremely limited. Economic evaluations from the United States suggest the potential cost-effectiveness of navigation in screening programs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Raymond J Chan
- Caring Futures Institute, College of Nursing and Health Sciences, Flinders University, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
- Cancer and Palliative Care Outcomes Centre, School of Nursing, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
| | - Vivienne E Milch
- Caring Futures Institute, College of Nursing and Health Sciences, Flinders University, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
- Cancer Australia, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
- School of Medicine, The University of Notre Dame Australia, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Fiona Crawford-Williams
- Caring Futures Institute, College of Nursing and Health Sciences, Flinders University, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
| | - Oluwaseyifunmi Andi Agbejule
- Caring Futures Institute, College of Nursing and Health Sciences, Flinders University, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
| | - Ria Joseph
- Caring Futures Institute, College of Nursing and Health Sciences, Flinders University, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
| | - Jolyn Johal
- Caring Futures Institute, College of Nursing and Health Sciences, Flinders University, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
| | - Narayanee Dick
- Caring Futures Institute, College of Nursing and Health Sciences, Flinders University, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
| | - Matthew P Wallen
- Caring Futures Institute, College of Nursing and Health Sciences, Flinders University, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
- Institute of Health and Wellbeing, Federation University Australia, Ballarat, Victoria, Australia
| | - Julie Ratcliffe
- Caring Futures Institute, College of Nursing and Health Sciences, Flinders University, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
| | - Anupriya Agarwal
- Cancer Australia, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
- National Health and Medical Research Council Clinical Trials Centre, The University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
- Faculty of Medicine and Health, Sydney Medical School, The University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Larissa Nekhlyudov
- Internal Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Matthew Tieu
- Caring Futures Institute, College of Nursing and Health Sciences, Flinders University, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
| | | | | | | | - Dorothy Keefe
- Cancer Australia, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
- School of Medicine, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
| | - Nicolas H Hart
- Caring Futures Institute, College of Nursing and Health Sciences, Flinders University, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
- Cancer and Palliative Care Outcomes Centre, School of Nursing, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
- Institute for Health Research, The University of Notre Dame Australia, Perth, Western Australia, Australia
- Exercise Medicine Research Institute, Edith Cowan University, Perth, Western Australia, Australia
- Human Performance Research Centre, Innovative Solutions for Well-being and Health (INSIGHT) Research Institute, Faculty of Health, University of Technology Sydney (UTS), Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
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