A descriptive study of the connections between social risk and healthcare utilization with supportive oncology care

Objective: This study utilized social risk data in the electronic heath record collected as part of routine clinical practice and examined relationships with supportive oncology care contacts and healthcare utilization.

Methods: A total of 2,807 cancer patients were screened for four social determinants of health (SDOH) domains (financial resource strain, housing instability, food insecurity, and transportation need) and categorized to low or high risk SDOH groups. The number of patient contacts with supportive oncology was compared amongst the groups. The data were analyzed for demographic and outcome differences including emergency department visits, inpatient admissions, and appointment adherence.

Results: Heightened social risk was associated with more total contacts with supportive oncology care. Patients with high SDOH risk had more contacts across all outcomes examined including emergency department visits (M = 13), inpatient admissions (M = 14), and missed appointments (M = 11).

Conclusions: Patients with both greater social risks and acute care utilization are associated with more psychosocial interventions in supportive oncology follow-up. These findings highlight the need for comprehensive action to respond to social risk factors identified in SDOH screening.