The Mental Health Experiences of Sexual and Gender Minorities Living With Cancer and Their Care Partners

NCT ID: NCT05866705

Last Updated: 2025-06-25

Basic Information

• Recruitment Status: COMPLETED
• Total Enrollment: 41 participants
• Study Classification: OBSERVATIONAL
• Study Start Date: 2023-04-03
• Study Completion Date: 2024-08-27

Brief Summary

The purpose of this study is to examine relationships between contextual stressors and stress moderators, depression symptom experience, resilience, frailty, and quality of life among older sexual gender minorities cancer survivors and their care partners.

Detailed Description

A priority focus in palliative care is supporting the well-being and mental health of older adults living with cancer and their care partners, particularly among populations carrying a disproportionate cancer burden, such as sexual and gender minorities (SGM). Previous reports indicate that SGMs experience increased cancer risk, less effective care, and poor outcomes than heterosexual, cis-gendered, and gender binary individuals. Thus, it is imperative to understand better the palliative and end-of-life (EOL) care needs of SGM cancer survivors and their care partners.

Recent studies have found that SGM individuals living with cancer report more depression than their heterosexual counterparts. These findings are concerning as increased distress and adverse mental health outcomes among individuals living with cancer have been shown to exacerbate symptom burden, impact disease progression, and increase the risk of suicide. Further, the care partners of SGM individuals living with cancer often serve as informal caregivers and may experience increased stress due to their loved one's diagnosis and disease progression. Such caregiving-related stress has been shown to increase the risk of late-life serious mental illness, accelerated aging, and age-related diseases. There is a critical need for culturally appropriate palliative care and EOL interventions that support the well-being of SGM individuals living with cancer and their care partners.

Further, limited knowledge exists on the relationship between daily and long-term patterns of psychological distress, specifically depression symptom experience, and changes in resilience (i.e., the capacity for positive adaptation despite adversity), frailty, and poor quality of life (QoL) over time. A failure to address this gap will result in continued health disparities in an underserved population in aging and palliative care.

Conditions

Depression; Anxiety; Caregiver Burden; Stress; Chronic Illness

Study Design

• Observational Model Type: COHORT
• Study Time Perspective: PROSPECTIVE

Study Groups

Cancer

Individuals living with cancer

No interventions assigned to this group

Care Partner

Care partner for someone who is living with cancer

No interventions assigned to this group

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion Criteria

Individual living with cancer: 1) self-identifies as a sexual and/or gender minority; 2) ≥55 years of age; 3) diagnosed with cancer (stages 1 through 4), including brain, lung, breast, gynecologic, head and neck, gastrointestinal, genitourinary cancer, melanoma; and hematologic malignancies.

Care Partner: 1) ≥21 years of age; 2) self-identifies as a care partner of a sexual and/or gender minority diagnosed with cancer (stages 1 through 4), including brain, lung, breast, gynecologic, head and neck, gastrointestinal, genitourinary cancer, melanoma; and hematologic malignancies.

Exclusion Criteria

Individual living with cancer: 1) Medical documentation of active severe mental illness (i.e., schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, or major depressive disorder), dementia, suicidal ideation, uncorrected hearing loss, or substance abuse; 2) does not have reliable internet access.

Care Partner: 1) Self-reported mental illness (i.e., schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, or major depressive disorder), dementia, active suicidal ideation, uncorrected hearing loss, or active substance abuse; 2) does not have reliable internet access.

• Minimum Eligible Age: 21 Years
• Eligible Sex: ALL
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Sponsors

University of Alabama at Birmingham

OTHER

Sponsor Role: lead

Responsible Party

Frank Puga

Assistant Professor

Responsibility Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Principal Investigators

Frank Puga

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Nursing

Locations

University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Nursing

Birmingham, Alabama, United States

Countries

United States

Other Identifiers

PREP Award

Identifier Type: OTHER

Identifier Source: secondary_id

IRB-300009168

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id