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. Plain language summary: What do breast cancer survivors tell health care providers abut heart symptoms and how do providers respond? Women who survive breast cancer can develop heart problems as a result of treatment. A common report of these women is feeling like the heart is beating faster, pounding, or beating irregularly. There is little research on what happens when breast cancer survivors have palpitations. Do they report them to a healthcare professional? If so, how does the healthcare professional respond? There were 52 survivors with palpitations who filled out an electronic survey; 34 reported their palpitations to a provider and 18 did not. Those who did not report palpitations were more anxious and more likely to feel their palpitations as an irregular heartbeat. Most of the women who reported palpitations to a provider received a recommendation for tests or referral to a heart specialist. Most completed the testing which resulted in finding a heart rhythm disturbance or other heart abnormality, getting a new prescription, or reassurance that things were normal. There were five women who did not get any recommendations for testing or referral. These women felt like their healthcare provider dismissed their symptoms as unimportant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]