Identifying newly diagnosed Hispanic cancer patients who use a physician with a Spanish-language practice, for studies of quality of cancer treatment

Background: Language barriers may affect cancer treatment choices among U.S. Hispanic-Latino patients newly diagnosed with cancer. This study examined use of a physician with a Spanish-language practice (SLP) by Hispanic patients diagnosed with a cancer reported to a population-based cancer registry. Methods: Data on all 1874 Connecticut Hispanic patients diagnosed with cancer in 1999-2002 were obtained from the Connecticut Tumor Registry, including the follow-up physician (FUP) responsible for the patient's medical care around the time of cancer diagnosis. FUPs were compared to a list of Spanish surnames (SS) to identify potential Hispanic ethnicity. A statewide database from a survey of licensed physicians was used to identify SLPs. For the two most common cancers (breast and prostate), SLP was examined in relation to radiotherapy after breast-conserving surgery (202 patients) and for prostate cancer (207 patients). Results: The 1874 patients had 829 different FUPs, of whom 783 had information on SLP; only 37 FUPs had a SS but 269 had a SLP. Of the 1727 Hispanic patients with known FUP, only 3.5% had a SS FUP, while 36.8% had a FUP with a SLP. Having a FUP with a SLP was statistically significantly associated with receipt of radiotherapy for breast cancer but not for prostate cancer. Conclusion: This methodology should be explored in states with larger Hispanic populations, and future efforts should include efforts to obtain data on other cancer treatments (e.g., chemotherapy and hormone therapy).