Abstract
Therapeutic alliances (TAs) between oncologists and patients are bonds characterized by mutual caring, trust, and respect. We here relate oncologist characteristics and behaviors to TA among Latino and non-Latino patients with advanced cancer.
Participants included non-Latino oncologists (n = 41) and their Latino (n = 67) and non-Latino White (n = 90) patients with advanced cancer who participated in Coping with Cancer III, a multisite, US-based prospective cohort study of Latino/non-Latino disparities in end-of-life cancer care, conducted 2015-2019. Oncologist characteristics included age, sex, race, institution type, Spanish language proficiency,
practice style (emphasis on family) and clinical etiquette behaviors. Patient-reported TA was assessed using the average score of six items from The Human Connection scale. Hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) estimated effects of oncologist characteristics on TA.
Of 157 patients, a majority were female (n = 92, 58.6%) and age younger than 65 years (n = 95, 60.5%). Most oncologists were male (n = 24, 58.5%), non-Latino White (n = 25, 61%), and age 40 years and older (n = 25, 61%). An adjusted HLM in the full sample showed that Latino patient ethnicity was associated with significantly lower TA (β = -.25;
< .001). In an adjusted stratified HLM for TA, among Latino patients, oncologist
practice style (β = .19;
= .012), preference using first names (β = .25;
= .023), and greater Spanish fluency (β = .11;
< .001) were positively associated with TA. In contrast,
practice style had no impact on TA for non-Latino White patients.
Latino patients with advanced cancer had worse TAs with their oncologists versus non-Latino patients. Modifiable oncologist behaviors may be targeted in an intervention designed to improve the patient-physician relationship between oncologists and their Latino patients with advanced cancer.