Unmet needs of black patients with cancer posthospitalization: a descriptive study

This article describes self-reported unmet needs of black patients with cancer posthospitalization and suggests a plan of research. The study sample consisted of 63 black patients with solid cancerous tumors who were discharged from seven hospitals in the Philadelphia, PA, area. The investigators collected data using the Enforced Social Dependency Scale (ESDS) and the Symptom Distress Scale (SDS). They added a checklist to the end of the ESDS to collect self-reported needs areas. The patients reported demographic data such as race and income. The investigators abstracted other demographic data, along with medical factors and complex problems, from the patients' hospital or home health agency medical records. Descriptive statistics and t-tests were used to analyze the data. Personal care and home activity needs were not being met adequately for this sample of low-income, urban-dwelling, black patients with cancer. The SDS revealed that the patients had significantly greater symptom distress related to frequency of nausea, intensity of pain, and difficulty breathing. Overall, patients with breast and gynecologic cancers reported the highest levels of symptom distress. Women who were elderly, black, alone, poor, and chronically ill were likely to have unmet needs and high levels of symptom distress.