Racial differences in familiarity, interest, and use of integrative medicine among patients with breast cancer

TL;DR

The study found that Black breast cancer patients showed more interest in integrative medicine therapies like massage and meditation compared to White patients, though they used acupuncture less.

Contribution

This study is the first to explore racial differences in familiarity, interest, and use of integrative medicine among breast cancer patients in a multiethnic cohort.

Findings

Black patients were less familiar with acupuncture compared to White patients.

Black patients showed higher interest in massage, meditation, music therapy, and yoga.

Despite higher interest, Black patients used acupuncture less than White patients.

Abstract

Purpose
Integrative medicine (IM) has received ASCO endorsement for managing cancer treatment-related side effects. Little is known about racial differences in familiarity, interest, and use of IM among breast cancer patients.
Methods
Breast cancer patients enrolled in the Chicago Multiethnic Epidemiologic Breast Cancer Cohort were surveyed regarding familiarity, interest, and use of IM: acupuncture, massage, meditation, music therapy, and yoga. Familiarity and interest, measured by a 5-point Likert scale, was modeled using proportional odds. Use was self-reported, modeled using binary logistic regression.
Results
Of 1,300 respondents (71.4% White and 21.9% Black), Black patients were less likely than White patients to be familiar with acupuncture (aOR 0.60, 95% CI: 0.41-0.87). While there was no differences in interest in acupuncture between Black and White patients (aOR 1.12, 95% CI: 0.76-1.65), Black patients were more interested in massage (aOR 1.86, 95% CI: 1.25-2.77), meditation (aOR 2.03, 95% CI: 1.37-3.00), music therapy (aOR 2.68, 95% CI: 1.80-3.99) and yoga (aOR 2.10, 95% CI: 1.41-3.12). Black patients were less likely than White to have used acupuncture (aOR 0.49, 95% CI: 0.29-0.84); but there were no racial differences in use of massage (aOR 0.83, 95% CI: 0.53-1.30), meditation (aOR 0.82, 95% CI: 0.47-1.43), music therapy (aOR 1.65, 95% CI: 0.82-3.32) and yoga (aOR 0.67, 95% CI: 0.37-1.20).
Conclusion
Black patients expressed more interest in IM than their White counterparts; there were no racial differences in IM use, except lower acupuncture use among Black patients. A breast program focused on equity should provide access to these services for breast cancer patients.