Trajectory of material hardship and income poverty in families of XXXX undergoing chemotherapy: A prospective cohort study.

@entity1 @entity3129 @entity5
BACKGROUND: Poverty is correlated with negative health outcomes in pediatric primary care, and is emerging as a negative prognostic indicator in pediatric oncology. However, measures of poverty amenable to targeted intervention, such as @entity3129 ( @entity3129 )-including food, energy, and housing insecurity-have not been described in pediatric oncology. We describe the trajectory of family reported @entity3129 and income poverty at a pediatric oncology referral center in New England with high psychosocial supports. PROCEDURE: Single site, prospective cohort study including 99 English-speaking families of @entity1 receiving chemotherapy for primary @entity5 . Families completed face-to-face surveys at two time-points: (1) Within 30 days of @entity1 's diagnosis (T1) (N   =   99, response rate 88%); (2) 6-months following diagnosis (T2) (N   =   93, response rate 94%). @entity3129 was assessed in three domains: food, energy, and housing insecurity. RESULTS: Twenty percent of families reported low-income ( <=200% Federal Poverty Level) and at least one @entity3129 prior to their @entity1 's diagnosis. At T2, 25% of families lost >40% annual household income secondary to treatment-related work disruptions, and 29% of families reported @entity3129 despite utilization of psychosocial supports. CONCLUSIONS: Low-income and @entity3129 are prevalent in a significant proportion of newly diagnosed pediatric oncology families at a large referral center. Despite psychosocial supports, the proportion of families experiencing unmet basic needs increases during chemotherapy to nearly one in three families. @entity3129 provides a quantifiable and remediable measure of poverty in pediatric oncology. Interventions to ameliorate this concrete component of poverty could benefit a significant proportion of pediatric oncology families. Pediatr @entity5    2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
