Follow-Up Care for Older Women With Breast Cancer

Abstract

Extending work begun as part of a National Cancer Institute-funded project, we sought to determine whether variations in care received by older women affected short-term psychosocial and clinical outcomes. Our specific aims were: 1) To describe patterns of adjuvant hormonal and chemotherapy in older women, and factors associated with receipt of these therapies; 2) To characterize and quantify the breast cancer-related care received by older women during the early years following diagnosis; and 3) To determine the effects of ongoing breast cancer care on women's quality of life. We conducted a longitudinal observational study of 303 women > 55 years of age diagnosed with stage I and II breast cancer between October 1992 and December 1995 at five sites in Boston, Massachusetts. Women were interviewed annually to obtain information about health and personal characteristics. Medical records were reviewed annually to gather information about treatments received, tests performed, and disease recurrences. We identified patient and provider characteristics associated with variations in care received and the effects of these variations on women's quality of life.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
May 01, 2000
Accession Number
ADB263525

Entities

People

  • Sherrie Kaplan

Tags

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Biopsy
  • Breast Cancer
  • Health Services
  • Information Science
  • Medical Personnel
  • Neoplasms
  • New England
  • Surgery
  • Surveys
  • United States

Fields of Study

  • Medicine

Readers

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