Unmet Information Needs Among Hispanic Women with Thyroid Cancer

Context Thyroid cancer is the second most common cancer in Hispanic women. Objective To determine the relationship between acculturation level and unmet information needs among Hispanic women with thyroid cancer. Design Population-based survey study. Participants Hispanic women from Los Angeles Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results registry with thyroid cancer diagnosed in 2014–2015 who had previously completed our thyroid cancer survey in 2017–2018 (N = 273; 80% response rate). Main Outcome Measures Patients were asked about 3 outcome measures of unmet information needs: (1) internet access, (2) thyroid cancer information resources used, and (3) ability to access information. Acculturation was assessed with the Short Acculturation Scale for Hispanics (SASH). Health literacy was measured with a validated single-item question. Results Participants’ median age at diagnosis was 47 years (range 20–79) and 48.7% were low-acculturated. Hispanic women were more likely to report the ability to access information “all of the time” if they preferred thyroid cancer information in mostly English compared to mostly Spanish (88.5% vs 37.0%, P < 0.001). Low-acculturated (vs high-acculturated) Hispanic women were more likely to have low health literacy (47.2% vs 5.0%, P < 0.001) and report use of in-person support groups (42.0% vs 23.1%, P = 0.006). Depending on their level of acculturation, Hispanic women accessed the internet differently (P < 0.001) such that low-acculturated women were more likely to report use of only a smartphone (34.0% vs 14.3%) or no internet access (26.2% vs 1.4%). Conclusions Low-acculturated (vs high-acculturated) Hispanic women with thyroid cancer have greater unmet information needs, emphasizing the importance of patient-focused approaches to providing medical information.