Ethnic Differences in the Impact of Breast Cancer on Employment Status, Financial Situation, and Quality of Life

• To identify barriers to employment and correlates of employment status, financial situation, and QoL. [ Time Frame: 3 years ] [ Designated as safety issue: No ]
• To develop the methodology to evaluate discrimination in the labor market using a validated instrument and to determine whether or not labor market discrimination is exacerbated by a diagnosis of breast cancer. [ Time Frame: 3 years ] [ Designated as safety issue: No ]

• To identify barriers to employment and correlates of employment status, financial situation, and QoL among breast cancer survivors from different ethnic groups. [ Time Frame: 3 years ] [ Designated as safety issue: No ]
• To develop the methodology to evaluate discrimination in the labor market using a validated instrument and to determine whether or not labor market discrimination is exacerbated by a diagnosis of breast cancer. [ Time Frame: 3 years ] [ Designated as safety issue: No ]

The purpose of this study is to learn more about how being treated for breast cancer affects patients' employment, financial situation, and quality of life on a short-term basis and on a longterm basis. Most studies of employment after breast cancer have focused on Caucasian women.This study will evaluate the impact of breast cancer on the lives of women from different ethnic groups.

We will recruit participants from Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC), four of its community-based outpatient treatment centers, and four urban community hospitals and clinics that serve large populations of ethnic minorities in New York City. The MSKCC outpatient regional sites are located in New Jersey (Basking Ridge) and New York, with two in Long Island (Commack and Rockville Centre) and another in Westchester County (Sleepy Hollow).

• Behavioral: survey web-based or telephone interview
  Patients will be asked to complete a questionnaire at baseline, and then one at follow up, 3-4 months after treatment completion. The patient will be contacted one and two years after the completion of their follow up questionnaire for a brief one-question survey regarding current employment status.
• Behavioral: survey web-based or telephone interview
  Patients will be asked to complete a questionnaire at baseline, and then one at follow up, 3-4 months after treatment completion.

• Breast cancer survivors
  Women being treated for stage I-III breast cancer who were employed prior to this diagnosis will be recruited in their physicians' offices.
  Intervention: Behavioral: survey web-based or telephone interview
• Comparison group
  Peer controls will be nominated by participants in the breast cancer survivor group or recruited by community outreach and matched for age, language, and ethnicity.
  Intervention: Behavioral: survey web-based or telephone interview

Inclusion Criteria:

Breast cancer survivors

• Pathologic diagnosis of stage I-III breast cancer
• Paid employment (full time or part time) at time of consent or in the three months prior to diagnosis
• Age 18 to 64 years (inclusive)
• The ability to give informed consent in Chinese (Mandarin), English, Korean, or Spanish.at MSK, New York Hospital Queens and Queens Medical Associates At Lincoln Medical and Mental Health Center, patients must be able to give consent in English or Spanish.
• At the time of enrollment, participants must still be undergoing chemotherapy, undergoing radiation therapy, or planning surgery unless surgery is to be the only treatment modality. Those for whom treatment consists of surgery alone may have had their operation no more than 1 month prior to study enrollment. Participants need not have undergone surgical reconstruction prior to enrollment if the plan is to delay this procedure until after primary treatment is completed.

Comparison group

Paid employment (full time or part time) at the time of consent

• Age 18 to 64 years (inclusive) and within an age range that is 5 years above or below that of the nominating or matched survivor
• The ability to give informed consent in the same language as the nominating survivor
• Membership in the same ethnic group as the nominating survivor
• Not treated for cancer in the past year (other than non-melanoma skin cancer)

Exclusion Criteria:

• N/A

• The City College of New York
• Lincoln Medical and Mental Health Center
• New York Hospital Queens
• Ralph Lauren Center for Cancer Care and Prevention
• New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation
• Queens Medical Associates