Area Deprivation Index is Associated with Variation in Quality of Life and Psychosocial Well-being Following Breast...

Neighborhood-level factors have been shown to influence surgical outcomes through material deprivation, psychosocial mechanisms, health behaviors, and access to resources. To date, no study has examined the relationship between area-level deprivation (ADI) and post-mastectomy outcomes.

A cross-sectional survey of adult female breast cancer patients who underwent lumpectomy or mastectomy between January 2018 to June 2019 was carried out. Patient-specific characteristics and ADI information were abstracted and correlated with postoperative global- (SF-12) and condition-specific (BREAST-Q) quality-of-life performance via multivariable regression. Patients were classified into three ADI terciles: 0-39 (low deprivation), 40-59 (moderate deprivation), and 60-100 (high deprivation).

A total of 564 consecutive patients were identified, being mostly white (75%) with mean age of 60.2 ± 12.4 years, median body mass index of 27.8 [interquartile range (IQR) 24.3-32.2) kg/m², median Charlson Comorbidity Index of 3 (IQR 2-5), and mean ADI of 42.3 ± 25.7. African American and Hispanic patients and those with high BMI were more likely to reside in highly deprived neighborhoods (p = 0.003 and p < 0.001). In adjusted models, patients in highly deprived neighborhoods had significantly lower mean SF-12 physical (44.9 [95% CI, 43.8-46.0] versus 44.9 [95% CI, 43.7-46.1] versus 46.3 [95% CI, 45.3-47.3], p = 0.03) and BREAST-Q psychosocial well-being scores (63.5 [95% CI, 59.32-67.8] versus 69.3 [95% CI, 65.1-73.6] versus 69.7 [95% CI, 66.4-73.1], p = 0.01) relative to moderate- and low-deprivation groups.

Patients residing in the most deprived neighborhoods were identified to have worse psychological well-being and quality-of-life. The ADI should be incorporated into the shared decision-making process and perioperative counseling to engender value-based and personalized care, especially for vulnerable populations.