A pilot survey of breast cancer survivors' reporting of palpitations to healthcare providers.

BACKGROUND

Breast cancer survivors (BCS) may experience cardiotoxicities from chemotherapy and oral endocrine therapy. Although a few studies have documented that palpitations are prevalent and associated with poorer outcomes, there is limited to no information on BCS' reporting of palpitations to healthcare providers.

OBJECTIVES

To compare BCS who did and did not report their palpitations to a healthcare provider and describe how those who did report palpitations recalled their provider responding.

DESIGN

This was a cross-sectional, national, electronic, pilot survey of BCS enrolled in the Love Army of Women registry.

METHODS

Participants (n = 52 with palpitations) completed standardized and investigator-designed questionnaires. Data were analyzed using frequency and descriptive statistics, chi-square tests, and Mann-Whitney tests. Responses to one open-ended question were analyzed using frequency counts and standard content analysis.

RESULTS

Compared to BCS who reported palpitations to a provider (n = 34), BCS who did not report their palpitations (n = 18) were significantly more anxious (p = 0.002) and more likely to feel palpitations as an irregular heartbeat (70.6% versus 38.9%, p = 0.027). Among the 34 BCS who reported palpitations to a provider, 32 completed the open-ended question. Of these 32 BCS, a majority (n = 27, 84%) indicated their provider recommended cardiac testing and/or referral to a cardiologist. Most (n = 24) reported completing testing. Test results included diagnosis of a new arrhythmia or other cardiac abnormality (n = 11, 46%), receipt of a new prescription (n = 5, 21%), or normal results (n = 5, 21%). Five (16%) of the 32 BCS did not receive recommendations for testing or referral and felt their provider normalized or dismissed their symptoms.

CONCLUSION

Palpitations are a salient topic for further research and clinical practice recommendations to address cardiac health in BCS.