People in minority groups, particularly black Americans, are more willing than their white counterparts to exhaust their financial resources for cancer care, according to a University of Alabama at Birmingham study.
The study compared the willingness of 4,214 participants in the Cancer Care Outcomes Research and Surveillance study to use personal financial resources to extend their lives through cancer treatment. Participants were asked questions such as “If you had to make a choice now, would you prefer treatment that extends life as much as possible, even if it means using all of your financial resources, or would you want treatment that costs you less, even if it means not living as long?”
Researchers found 80 percent of blacks were willing to spend all of their financial resources to extend life. Asians followed at 72 percent, Hispanics at 69 percent and whites at 54 percent.
After accounting for a number of factors — such as income, disease stage, quality of life, age, perceived time left to live and other medical illnesses — blacks were 2.4 times more likely to expend all personal financial resources to extend life than whites. Hispanic patients were 1.45 times more likely and Asian patients were 1.59 times more likely to expend all personal financial resources than white patients.
Lead study author Michelle Martin, Ph.D., said the findings should inform treatment plans and help physicians design state-of-the-art cancer care reflecting patient wishes.
Read the UAB release on the study of willingness to spend on cancer care.
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