Abstract B134: Socioeconomic, social, and clinical factors associated with loneliness among African American breast cancer survivors

Abstract Importance: Social connections are an important driver of cancer risk and outcomes and animal studies have shown that social isolation is important to breast cancer initiation and progression. However, limited empirical data are available on perceived loneliness among patient groups who are at increased risk for breast cancer morbidity and mortality. Objectives: The purpose of this study was to characterize the nature and distribution of loneliness in a sample of African American breast cancer patients and identify clinical and social factors having significant independent associations with perceived loneliness among these survivors. Methods: The study included African American breast cancer patients (n=110) who provided self-reported data on loneliness as part of a participating in a prospective observational study and randomized trial that examined stress reactivity using the Trier Social Stress Test. Loneliness was measured using a short form of the Loneliness Scale; scores were dichotomized using the median split to characterize patients as experiencing high versus low levels of loneliness. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to identify factors having significant associations with loneliness. Results: Over half (51.82%) of patients reported experiencing high levels of loneliness. Clinical and social factors that had significant independent associations with loneliness included marital status (OR=2.853, CI=1.066, 7.635, p=0.037), financial strain (OR=3.240, CI=1.114, 9.422, p=0.031), and the number of co-morbidities. Compared to patients who did not have any co- morbidities, those who had one, two, or three or more comorbidities had seven (CI=1.066, 40.645; p=0.029), eleven (CI=1.858, 66.716, p=0.008), and eleven (CI=1.757, 65.244; p=0.010) times the odds, respectively, of experiencing loneliness. Conclusions and Relevance: Many African American breast cancer patients in this study reported high levels of loneliness. Greater efforts are needed to identify patients who may benefit from interventions that enhance social connections, especially if they are married, experiencing financial strain, and have co-morbid conditions. Citation Format: Kelsie Campbell, Fatimata Sanogo, Trista Beard, Melanie Jefferson, Bodhour Sahlia, Chanita Hughes Halbert. Socioeconomic, social, and clinical factors associated with loneliness among African American breast cancer survivors abstract. In: Proceedings of the 17th AACR Conference on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved; 2024 Sep 21-24; Los Angeles, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2024;33(9 Suppl):Abstract nr B134.