Ethnic Disparities in Cancer Caregivers' Elevated Health Risk

Chicago site will be subcontracted to this study. The scope of work for this subcontract includes (a) enrolling 75 patient-family caregiver dyads to the study, (b) performing data collection three times, and (c) storing biological data. (a) Eligibility criteria for patients are (a) 21 years or older, (b) able to speak English or Spanish, (c) diagnosed with colon or rectal cancer (stage I to IV) 2 months before participating in the study, (d) treated at a study site facility, and (e) having a family-like individual (family member or close friend) who is providing help without being paid. Eligibility criteria for the caregivers are (a) 21 years or older, (b) nominated by the patient as a primary caregiver, (c) a spouse/significant other, sibling, parent, or adult offspring of the identified survivor, (d) self-identified as a Black, a non-Hispanic White, or a Hispanic, (e) able to speak/read English or Spanish, and (f) living in Cook or ABC County in Illinois. Enrolling study participants will be ensured that Chicago sites have at least 25 patient-caregiver dyads for each of the three ethnic groups (based on caregiver’s ethnicity) during the initial data collection period (T1). The first follow-up (T2) data collection is at 11-month post-diagnosis and the second follow-up (T3) data collection is at 18-month post-diagnosis. Over 80% retention rate at T3 is expected. (b) Data collection consists of four types of data: (i) questionnaire (participant self-administration is allowed), (ii) saliva for four times a day for two consecutive days, (iii) blood (RA, phlebotomist licensed, draw blood), and (iv) behavioral data, including height, weight, waist circumference, blood pressure, hand grip test, and 2-step test for VO2 Submax value. (c) Saliva data are stored in a -80°C freezer until shipped to the processing site. Blood data will be prepared for being stored in a -80°C freezer before being shipped to the processing site for analysis.