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AbstractBackground Financial toxicity (FT) is a common issue faced by breast cancer patients worldwide. Although financial navigation (FN) is a promising approach to alleviate FT, its effectiveness in China's context remains underexplored. Objectives To evaluate the effects of a FN intervention on FT, cost-related health literacy (CRHL), shared decision-making (SDM) ability, and perceived stress of patients with breast cancer. Methods This was a cluster randomized controlled trial. Participants were randomized to the FN group or control group (n=41 per group). Outcomes including FT (primary outcomes), and other secondary outcomes (i.e., CRHL, SDM ability, and perceived stress) were assessed at baseline (T0), one month post-discharge (T1) and three months post-discharge (T2). Results Of 311 assessed patients, 82 eligible participants were recruited. There were significant group × time interaction effects on subjective FT (χ2group×time=18.998, Pχ2group×time=31.535, Pχ2group×time=2.906, P=0.234) and perceived stress (χ2group×time=0.579, P=0.749) were not statistically significant. Additionally, no significant effects were found on material and behavioral domains of FT. Conclusions This study found FN intervention could alleviate subjective FT and enhance CRHL among breast cancer patients in China, which provided preliminary evidence for integrating FN into clinical practice for FT management.
Feng et al. (Fri,) studied this question.