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Change in worry over time among Hispanic women with thyroid cancer

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to assess change in worry over time in Hispanic women with thyroid cancer.

Methods

Worry about recurrence, quality of life, family at risk, death, and harm from treatments was assessed in 273 Hispanic women with thyroid cancer diagnosed in 2014–2015. Subjects were recruited from Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Los Angeles. Participants were surveyed at two points in time (time 1: 2017–2018 and time 2: 2019). Multivariable logistic regression was used to determine correlates with high worry (somewhat, quite a bit, very much) versus low worry (not at all, a little) at time 2.

Results

For the five worry items, 20.1–39.6% had high worry at both time 1 and time 2. An additional 7.6–13.4% had low worry at time 1 that became high worry at time 2. In multivariable logistic regression controlling for age, recurrence status, education level, and number of complications or side effects symptoms, younger age (20–39) as compared to older (40–79) was associated with high worry about thyroid cancer recurrence (OR 2.16, 95% CI 1.12–4.17). History of recurrent or persistent disease was associated with high worry about harms from treatment (OR 2.94, 95% CI 1.29–6.67). Greater number of complications or side effects of symptoms was associated with more worry across all five items.

Conclusions

Some Hispanic women with thyroid cancer have persistently high worry, with young adult Hispanic women vulnerable to worry about recurrence.

Implications for Cancer Survivors

Hispanic women with thyroid cancer may benefit from targeted psychosocial support during survivorship, with interventions informed by patient and cancer characteristics.

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Data and/or code availability

The datasets generated and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank Ms. Brittany Gay for her support in preparing this manuscript.

Funding

This work is supported by R01 CA201198 (National Cancer Institute) with additional R01 supplement from the Office of Research on Women’s Health (ORWH) to Dr. Haymart. Dr. Haymart is also supported by R01 HS024512 (Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality). N. Jackson Levin received research support from the National Cancer Institute institutional training grant T32-CA-236621. Dr. Debbie Chen receives research support from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases institutional training grant T32-DK-007245. N Jackson Levin and A Zhang received this same Curtis Center support from the University of Michigan Vivian A. and James L. Curtis School of Social Work Center for Health Equity Research and Training, Signature Programs Initiatives. The collection of cancer incidence data in California was supported by the California Department of Public Health pursuant to California Health and Safety Code Sect. 103885; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) National Program of Cancer Registries, under cooperative agreement 5NU58DP006344; and the NCI’s SEER Program under contract HHSN261201800015I awarded to the University of Southern California. The collection of cancer incidence data in Georgia was supported by contract HHSN261201800003I, Task Order HHSN26100001 from NCI, and cooperative agreement 5NU58DP003875-04 from the CDC.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Social Work and Department of Anthropology, University of Michigan, 1080 S. University Ave, Room B660, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA

    Nina Jackson Levin

  2. School of Social Work, University of Michigan, 1080 S. University, Room 3704, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA

    Anao Zhang

  3. Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Metabolism, Endocrinology and Diabetes, University of Michigan, North Campus Research Complex, 2800 Plymouth Rd. Bldg. 16, 400S-20, MI, 48109, Ann Arbor, USA

    David Reyes-Gastelum

  4. Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Metabolism, Endocrinology, and Diabetes, University of Michigan, Domino’s Farms (Lobby C, Suite 1300), 24 Frank Lloyd Wright Drive, PO Box 451, Ann Arbor, MI, 48106, USA

    Debbie W. Chen

  5. Department of Preventive Medicine, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, 2001 N. Soto St., SSB318E, MC9239, Los Angeles, CA, 90089-9239, USA

    Ann S. Hamilton

  6. School of Social Work, University of Michigan, 1080 S. University, Room 2778, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA

    Bradley Zebrack

  7. Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Metabolism, Endocrinology and Diabetes, University of Michigan, North Campus Research Complex, 2800 Plymouth Road, Bldg 16, Rm 408E, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA

    Megan R. Haymart

Authors
  1. Nina Jackson Levin
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Contributions

Conceptualization: Nina Jackson Levin, Anao Zhang, David Reyes-Gastelum, Debbie W. Chen, Ann S. Hamilton, Bradley J. Zebrack, Megan R. Haymart.

Data curation: Hamilton, A.S.

Project administration: Hamilton, A.S.

Investigation: Chen, DW., Hamilton, A.S., Haymart M.R.

Formal analysis: Reyes-Gastelum, Zhang, A., Haymart M.R.

Writing—original draft: Jackson Levin, N., Haymart, M.R.

Writing—review and editing: Jackson Levin, N., Zhang, A., Reyes-Gastelum, D., Chen, D.W., Hamilton, A.S., Zebrack, B.J., Haymart, M.R.

Supervision: Haymart, M.R., Zhang, A., Zebrack, B.J.

Funding acquisition: Haymart, M.R.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Megan R. Haymart.

Ethics declarations

Ethics approval

The study was approved by the University of Michigan (HUM00113715), the University of Southern California (HS-16–00646), the Committee for the Protection of Human Subjects (California State Institutional Review Board), the Georgia Department of Public Health, and the Emory University Institutional Review Boards (IRB00093983) and received approval from the California Cancer Registry. All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

Consent to participate

A waiver of written informed consent was obtained for all subjects in this study.

Consent for publication

Not applicable.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare no competing interests.

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The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health or the National Cancer Institute. The ideas and opinions expressed herein are those of the authors and endorsement by the State of California and State of Georgia Departments of Public Health, the NCI and CDC, or their contractors and subcontractors is not intended nor should be inferred.

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Jackson Levin, N., Zhang, A., Reyes-Gastelum, D. et al. Change in worry over time among Hispanic women with thyroid cancer. J Cancer Surviv 16, 844–852 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11764-021-01078-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11764-021-01078-8

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