Racial discrimination among women seeking breast cancer care
Abstract Discrimination can contribute to worse health outcomes, but its prevalence in breast cancer is not well studied. We aimed to understand how women with stage I-III breast cancer faced discrimination in health care and everyday settings through the Everyday Discrimination Scale, cross-section...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Nature Portfolio
2025-01-01
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| Series: | npj Breast Cancer |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41523-025-00717-y |
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| author | Lauren J. Oshry Ruth I. Lederman Haley Gagnon Tsion Fikre Daniel A. Gundersen Anna C. Revette Ashley Odai-Afotey Olga Kantor Dawn L. Hershman Katherine D. Crew Nancy L. Keating Rachel A. Freedman Naomi Y. Ko |
| author_facet | Lauren J. Oshry Ruth I. Lederman Haley Gagnon Tsion Fikre Daniel A. Gundersen Anna C. Revette Ashley Odai-Afotey Olga Kantor Dawn L. Hershman Katherine D. Crew Nancy L. Keating Rachel A. Freedman Naomi Y. Ko |
| author_sort | Lauren J. Oshry |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Discrimination can contribute to worse health outcomes, but its prevalence in breast cancer is not well studied. We aimed to understand how women with stage I-III breast cancer faced discrimination in health care and everyday settings through the Everyday Discrimination Scale, cross-sectional survey. 296 women, 178 (60%) Non-Hispanic White (NHW), 76 (26%) Non-Hispanic Black (NHB), and 42 (14%) Hispanic participated. NHB women reported significantly more discrimination in everyday life compared to NHW women (score 20.1 vs 16.1, p < 0.001) and Hispanic women (score 20.1 vs 16.0, p < 0.001). In the health care setting, NHB had statistically more frequent reports of being ignored (23.7% vs. 5.6%), treated with less respect (21.1% vs. 7.3%), and treated with less courtesy (18.7% vs. 6.2%; all P = < 0.001) when compared to NHW women. NHB women experience a higher degree of discrimination both inside and outside of health care. Further research to understand discrimination on breast cancer outcomes is warranted. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-79c9433563e940b7acf45e4197342615 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2374-4677 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | npj Breast Cancer |
| spelling | doaj-art-79c9433563e940b7acf45e41973426152025-01-19T12:33:40ZengNature Portfolionpj Breast Cancer2374-46772025-01-011111610.1038/s41523-025-00717-yRacial discrimination among women seeking breast cancer careLauren J. Oshry0Ruth I. Lederman1Haley Gagnon2Tsion Fikre3Daniel A. Gundersen4Anna C. Revette5Ashley Odai-Afotey6Olga Kantor7Dawn L. Hershman8Katherine D. Crew9Nancy L. Keating10Rachel A. Freedman11Naomi Y. Ko12Section of Hematology and Medical Oncology, Department of Medicine, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston Medical CenterSurvey and Qualitative Methods Core, Dana-Farber Cancer InstituteDepartment of Medical Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer InstituteSection of Hematology and Medical Oncology, Department of Medicine, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston Medical CenterSurvey and Qualitative Methods Core, Dana-Farber Cancer InstituteSurvey and Qualitative Methods Core, Dana-Farber Cancer InstituteDepartment of Medical Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer InstituteDivision of Breast Surgery, Department of Surgery, Brigham and Women’s HospitalDepartment of Medicine and Epidemiology, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer CenterDepartment of Medicine and Epidemiology, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer CenterDivision of General Internal Medicine, Brigham and Women’s HospitalDepartment of Medical Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer InstituteSection of Hematology and Medical Oncology, Department of Medicine, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston Medical CenterAbstract Discrimination can contribute to worse health outcomes, but its prevalence in breast cancer is not well studied. We aimed to understand how women with stage I-III breast cancer faced discrimination in health care and everyday settings through the Everyday Discrimination Scale, cross-sectional survey. 296 women, 178 (60%) Non-Hispanic White (NHW), 76 (26%) Non-Hispanic Black (NHB), and 42 (14%) Hispanic participated. NHB women reported significantly more discrimination in everyday life compared to NHW women (score 20.1 vs 16.1, p < 0.001) and Hispanic women (score 20.1 vs 16.0, p < 0.001). In the health care setting, NHB had statistically more frequent reports of being ignored (23.7% vs. 5.6%), treated with less respect (21.1% vs. 7.3%), and treated with less courtesy (18.7% vs. 6.2%; all P = < 0.001) when compared to NHW women. NHB women experience a higher degree of discrimination both inside and outside of health care. Further research to understand discrimination on breast cancer outcomes is warranted.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41523-025-00717-y |
| spellingShingle | Lauren J. Oshry Ruth I. Lederman Haley Gagnon Tsion Fikre Daniel A. Gundersen Anna C. Revette Ashley Odai-Afotey Olga Kantor Dawn L. Hershman Katherine D. Crew Nancy L. Keating Rachel A. Freedman Naomi Y. Ko Racial discrimination among women seeking breast cancer care npj Breast Cancer |
| title | Racial discrimination among women seeking breast cancer care |
| title_full | Racial discrimination among women seeking breast cancer care |
| title_fullStr | Racial discrimination among women seeking breast cancer care |
| title_full_unstemmed | Racial discrimination among women seeking breast cancer care |
| title_short | Racial discrimination among women seeking breast cancer care |
| title_sort | racial discrimination among women seeking breast cancer care |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41523-025-00717-y |
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