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Quality of Life in Community-Dwelling Chinese American Patients with Cancer Pain

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Abstract

Although pain can be a powerful influence on health-related quality of life (HRQL) in cancer populations, culturally-based beliefs and behaviors may directly impact HQRL or modify the association between pain and HQRL. Studies of well-defined ethnic groups may clarify these relationships and inform culturally competent clinical practices intended to reduce illness burden. We evaluated HRQL in 121 non-English-speaking Chinese immigrants with cancer pain using the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-General (FACT-G) scale. Overall, 91.2 % were born in China and 86.0 % were Cantonese-speaking; 50.8 % had no formal education (mean age = 63.2 years; 68.6 % women). Although the mean FACT-G score did not differ from U.S. population norms, most subscale scores for Chinese immigrants were lower and the score for social/family well-being was higher (all p < 0.05). Higher educational level, caregiver presence, lower psychological distress, lower pain intensity and interference, and lower symptom distress were associated with better HRQL (all p < 0.05). These findings confirm the importance of diverse influences on HQRL in ethnic Chinese cancer patients with chronic pain and suggest that this group may be distinguished from the majority population by the extent to which social/family well-being is preserved. Future studies in the growing population of Chinese Americans with cancer are needed to evaluate various aspects of social/family well-being and determine whether they modify the association between pain and HRQL.

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported by a Grant from the United States Cancer Pain Relief Committee (Dhingra) and the American Cancer Society 117416-RSGT-09-201-01-PC (Dhingra). We gratefully acknowledge Ms. Juanyi Zhou for her assistance with participant recruitment; Ki Kun Lam for his assistance with translation; Dr. Wendy Tak Lam for her consultation on measurement; Dr. Tak Kwan and Ms. Selina Chan from the Beth Israel Medical Center Asian Services Center for promoting this community-based research collaboration, and the patients who participated in this study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Malcolm Barrett

  2. MJHS Institute for Innovation in Palliative Care, 39 Broadway, 3rd Floor, New York, NY, 10006, USA

    Alice Chu, Jack Chen, Russell Portenoy & Lara Dhingra

  3. Community Oncology, Beth Israel Medical Center, New York, NY, USA

    Kin Yui Lam

  4. Department of Neurology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY, USA

    Russell Portenoy

Authors
  1. Malcolm Barrett
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  2. Alice Chu
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  3. Jack Chen
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  4. Kin Yui Lam
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  5. Russell Portenoy
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  6. Lara Dhingra
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Correspondence to Lara Dhingra.

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Barrett, M., Chu, A., Chen, J. et al. Quality of Life in Community-Dwelling Chinese American Patients with Cancer Pain. J Immigrant Minority Health 19, 1442–1448 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10903-016-0392-4

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