34P - Social support as the mediator of the association between unmet needs and happiness among women with early breast cancer

Background

Social support is an important determinant of optimal care and maybe extended by community partners including non-governmental organizations to enhance the well-being of individuals living with cancer. We determined whether social support mediated the association between unmet needs and happiness in women with early breast cancer in a multiethnic Asian setting.

Methods

The study employed a hospital-based cross-sectional design that recruited 400 multiethnic patients newly diagnosed with early breast cancer in seven tertiary Malaysian hospitals. Study tools included Multi-dimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support, Needs Assessment Tool for Breast Cancer and Oxford, Happiness Questionnaire. Partial least square structural equation modelling was used to determine the mediating role of social support in the association between unmet needs and happiness.

Results

Participants comprised Malays (58.3%), followed by Chinese (26.8%), and Indians (12.3%). Two-thirds were recruited from Ministry of Health-owned hospitals, 20.5% from academic and 14.8% from private hospitals. A majority were diagnosed with stage II (32.3%) or stage III (30.0%) breast cancer at initial diagnosis. About 5.3% of participants reported to be unhappy, 5.8% somewhat unhappy, 8.3% rather unhappy, 30.3% somewhat happy, 28.7% rather happy, and 21.8% happy. A majority had moderate-level unmet supportive care needs (74%), with the highest level of unmet needs in the domains of information services (31.3%) and hospital appointments (30.3%). Sixty per cent reported a high level of social support. Unmet needs were found to have a negative and significant effect on happiness (f ² =8.0%, β = −0.259, p < 0.001). Social support significantly, positively, and partially mediated the association between unmet needs and, with the p-values significant for both direct (p < 0.001) and indirect (p = 0.024) effects.

Conclusions

Social support plays an important role in bridging unmet needs and improving well-being of women with breast cancer. Study findings are expected to foster greater public-private partnerships in engaging communities to actively play a role in improving life after (breast) cancer.

Clinical trial identification

Editorial acknowledgement

Legal entity responsible for the study

The authors.

Funding

Ministry of Higher Education, Malaysia.

Disclosure

R. Kaur: Financial Interests, Personal, Speaker, Consultant, Advisor: Novartis, AstraZeneca, Pfizer, Roche,. M. Thiagarajan: Non-Financial Interests, Institutional, Leadership Role: Malaysian Oncological Society, President. N.F. Bt Abdul Satar: Financial Interests, Personal, Advisory Board: Novartis, Zuellig Pharma,Ipsen Pharma, Eisai, MSD Malaysia,Pfizer, Roche,; Financial Interests, Personal, Funding: KURA Oncology, Viracta Therapeutics, MSD Malaysia, Naluri Sdn Bhd; Financial Interests, Institutional, Principal Investigator: KURA Oncology, Viracta Therapeutics, MSD Malaysia, Naluri Sdn Bhd; Non-Financial Interests, Personal, Leadership Role: Project Lead for Cancer ECHO UM. A. Ali: Financial Interests, Personal, Invited Speaker: Roche, AstraZeneca. F.L.T. Chong: Financial Interests, Personal, Invited Speaker: Novartis, Roche,; Financial Interests, Personal and Institutional, Principal Investigator: Novartis, J&J. A.F. Abdul Aziz: Financial Interests, Personal, Invited Speaker: Roche; Non-Financial Interests, Institutional, Member of Board of Directors: National Cancer Society Malaysia; Non-Financial Interests, Institutional, Member: Fellow of College of Surgeons, Academy of Medicine Malaysia Member of Malaysian Oncological Society. C.H. Yip: Financial Interests, Personal, Advisory Board: AstraZeneca. N. Bhoo-Pathy: Financial Interests, Personal, Funding: Partial funding from Ministry of Higher Education. All other authors have declared no conflicts of interest.