Intellectual or developmental disabilities and curative female breast cancer treatment: A population-based retrospective cohort studyLay summary

Background: Adults with intellectual or developmental disabilities (IDD) diagnosed with breast cancer are more likely to die than those without IDD. Differences in breast cancer treatment among individuals with and without IDD could contribute to survival disparities. We compared breast cancer treat...

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Main Authors: Rebecca L. Hansford, Brooke Wilson, Rebecca Griffiths, Alyson L. Mahar
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2025-08-01
Series:Breast
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Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960977625005260
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author Rebecca L. Hansford
Brooke Wilson
Rebecca Griffiths
Alyson L. Mahar
author_facet Rebecca L. Hansford
Brooke Wilson
Rebecca Griffiths
Alyson L. Mahar
author_sort Rebecca L. Hansford
collection DOAJ
description Background: Adults with intellectual or developmental disabilities (IDD) diagnosed with breast cancer are more likely to die than those without IDD. Differences in breast cancer treatment among individuals with and without IDD could contribute to survival disparities. We compared breast cancer treatment receipt among adults with and without IDD. Methods: A population-based retrospective cohort study was conducted using administrative data. We included adult females diagnosed with stage I-III breast cancer in Ontario (2007–2018). IDD status was identified using an established algorithm. We estimated associations between IDD and surgical resection, adjuvant chemotherapy, and radiation using cause-specific hazards models in four distinct cohorts determined by stage and treatment eligibility. Unadjusted and adjusted hazard ratios (HR; adjusted for region, rurality, previous cancer, stage and year of diagnosis) with 95 % confidence intervals are reported, accounting for the competing event of death. Cancer subtype was not adjusted for as about 25 % of participants were missing this information. Effect modification by age, stage and comorbidity was explored. Results: The four cohorts included 100,679 (IDD = 369), 12,526 (IDD = 57), 60,279 (IDD = 167), and 7891 individuals (IDD = 22), respectively. Relative to those without IDD, people with IDD were less likely to receive surgical resection (HR = 0.84; 0.76–0.94), breast conserving surgery (HR = 0.69; 0.60–0.80), adjuvant chemotherapy (HR = 0.49; 0.32–0.74), and radiation (HR = 0.58; 0.46–0.73). People with IDD were as likely to receive mastectomy (HR = 1.13; 0.97–1.33). Significant interactions by age and IDD were detected for receipt of mastectomy (interaction p-value = 0.03) and breast conserving surgery (interaction p-value = 0.02). Conclusions: Research to understand treatment decision-making, the accessibility of breast cancer treatment, and to examine potential pathways to improve receipt of guideline-recommended care are needed to inform targeted improvements in care delivery.
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spelling doaj-art-e1d8e701749b4726b77f9701ac1b8e7a2025-08-20T03:13:21ZengElsevierBreast1532-30802025-08-018210450910.1016/j.breast.2025.104509Intellectual or developmental disabilities and curative female breast cancer treatment: A population-based retrospective cohort studyLay summaryRebecca L. Hansford0Brooke Wilson1Rebecca Griffiths2Alyson L. Mahar3Department of Public Health Sciences, Queen's University, Kingston, ON, Canada; Cancer Care & Epidemiology, Sinclair Cancer Research Institute, Queen's University, Kingston, ON, Canada; Corresponding author. Sinclair Cancer Research Institute, Queen's University, 10 Stuart St., Level 2, Kingston, ON, K7L 3N6, Canada.Cancer Care & Epidemiology, Sinclair Cancer Research Institute, Queen's University, Kingston, ON, Canada; Department of Oncology, Kingston General Hospital, Kingston, ON, CanadaICES Queen's, Queen's University, Kingston, ON, CanadaDepartment of Public Health Sciences, Queen's University, Kingston, ON, Canada; Cancer Care & Epidemiology, Sinclair Cancer Research Institute, Queen's University, Kingston, ON, Canada; ICES Queen's, Queen's University, Kingston, ON, Canada; School of Nursing, Queen's University, Kingston, ON, CanadaBackground: Adults with intellectual or developmental disabilities (IDD) diagnosed with breast cancer are more likely to die than those without IDD. Differences in breast cancer treatment among individuals with and without IDD could contribute to survival disparities. We compared breast cancer treatment receipt among adults with and without IDD. Methods: A population-based retrospective cohort study was conducted using administrative data. We included adult females diagnosed with stage I-III breast cancer in Ontario (2007–2018). IDD status was identified using an established algorithm. We estimated associations between IDD and surgical resection, adjuvant chemotherapy, and radiation using cause-specific hazards models in four distinct cohorts determined by stage and treatment eligibility. Unadjusted and adjusted hazard ratios (HR; adjusted for region, rurality, previous cancer, stage and year of diagnosis) with 95 % confidence intervals are reported, accounting for the competing event of death. Cancer subtype was not adjusted for as about 25 % of participants were missing this information. Effect modification by age, stage and comorbidity was explored. Results: The four cohorts included 100,679 (IDD = 369), 12,526 (IDD = 57), 60,279 (IDD = 167), and 7891 individuals (IDD = 22), respectively. Relative to those without IDD, people with IDD were less likely to receive surgical resection (HR = 0.84; 0.76–0.94), breast conserving surgery (HR = 0.69; 0.60–0.80), adjuvant chemotherapy (HR = 0.49; 0.32–0.74), and radiation (HR = 0.58; 0.46–0.73). People with IDD were as likely to receive mastectomy (HR = 1.13; 0.97–1.33). Significant interactions by age and IDD were detected for receipt of mastectomy (interaction p-value = 0.03) and breast conserving surgery (interaction p-value = 0.02). Conclusions: Research to understand treatment decision-making, the accessibility of breast cancer treatment, and to examine potential pathways to improve receipt of guideline-recommended care are needed to inform targeted improvements in care delivery.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960977625005260Intellectual or developmental disabilitiesCancerBreast cancerTreatmentPopulation-based cohort studyHealth services research
spellingShingle Rebecca L. Hansford
Brooke Wilson
Rebecca Griffiths
Alyson L. Mahar
Intellectual or developmental disabilities and curative female breast cancer treatment: A population-based retrospective cohort studyLay summary
Breast
Intellectual or developmental disabilities
Cancer
Breast cancer
Treatment
Population-based cohort study
Health services research
title Intellectual or developmental disabilities and curative female breast cancer treatment: A population-based retrospective cohort studyLay summary
title_full Intellectual or developmental disabilities and curative female breast cancer treatment: A population-based retrospective cohort studyLay summary
title_fullStr Intellectual or developmental disabilities and curative female breast cancer treatment: A population-based retrospective cohort studyLay summary
title_full_unstemmed Intellectual or developmental disabilities and curative female breast cancer treatment: A population-based retrospective cohort studyLay summary
title_short Intellectual or developmental disabilities and curative female breast cancer treatment: A population-based retrospective cohort studyLay summary
title_sort intellectual or developmental disabilities and curative female breast cancer treatment a population based retrospective cohort studylay summary
topic Intellectual or developmental disabilities
Cancer
Breast cancer
Treatment
Population-based cohort study
Health services research
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960977625005260
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