Numerous studies have shown that a married individual is more likely to fare better battling cancer than a single individual, however, new anecdotal evidence may suggest that marital status can also impact the way an oncologist treats patients.
Numerous studies have shown that a married individual is more likely to fare better battling cancer than a single individual, however, new anecdotal evidence may suggest that marital status can also impact the way an oncologist treats patients.
Joan DelFattore, a Washington Post columnist, penned an article about her experiences and research following a diagnosis of cancer. When meeting with a physician about treatment for her 2011 cancer diagnosis, DelFattore said one of the questions her oncologist asked was whether or not she had a spouse or children. When she replied no, the doctor wondered how she would manage her treatment. As a result, he prescribed what she called a mild drug. DelFattore said she knew that there was a more effective treatment available for her cancer, a combination therapy that included chemo, but came with some side effects. The doctor did not change his opinion due to her lack of at home support due to some of the side effects of the treatment. She said in her Post column, as well as at a TED Talk she gave last year, that she knew the combination treatment was the only one that had a chance to save her life.
DelFattore found another oncologist who prescribed the more aggressive treatment. In her Washington Post column, DelFattore said if she had not stuck to her guns and sought the recommended treatment, “I probably wouldn’t have survived.”
In a 2017 TED Talk, DelFattore shared her story. She said the second oncologist was a woman who had lived on her own for an extended period of time before marrying, so she had a broader understanding. That oncologist asked questions about whether or not there were extended family or friends who could stay overnight and provide rides when the side effects took their toll. When DelFattore assured the doctor she did, the oncologist went ahead with the cancer treatment.
Seven years after her own experiences, DelFattore explored the question of whether or not single people were given different treatments than married patients. Her findings are surprising and a bit frightening for singles.
DelFattore poured over 59 studies based on the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Program (SEER), a database maintained by the National Cancer Institute. The database tracks millions of cancer patients across the nation and DelFattore said it also tracks those patients by marital status.
In her research, DelFattore said study after study showed a “significant differences in treatment rates between married and unmarried patients.” She said the researchers who put those articles together attribute the reason that singles are less likely to receive more aggressive treatments are due to the patient. In her TED Talk, DelFattore said the researchers suggested that those who have not found a life-partner do not have the same motivation to seek out the best and most aggressive cancer treatments.
But, as she points out in the column, that “doesn’t stand up to scrutiny.” While it is true that more single patients will refuse surgery or radiation therapy, DelFattore said it’s only a small percentage. From her column, she wrote: “Of 278,015 unmarried patients whose physicians recommended surgery, 1,441 refused. For radiation, it was 1,055 out of 79,303.”
DelFattore said there are a number of stereotypes of single adults, such as singles are more prone to depression, or they lack any sort of social support. There are also other disadvantages that many singles have over married couples, like small finances or insurance issues, she said. Regardless of that, DelFattore said there is a need for treating physicians and researchers to remove those “unmitigatedly negative portrayal of unmarried adults.”
Citing statistics from the U.S. Census Bureau during her TED Talk, DelFattore said more than one-in-four households are made up of single adults. It’ important that treating oncologists get beyond those biases when treating cancer patients in order to receive a fighting chance against the disease.
