Tobacco use in women with lung cancer.

Background: Smoking cessation after a cancer diagnosis is associated with improved clinical outcomes.

Purpose: The aims of this study are to determine smoking prevalence, describe patterns of smoking, identify readiness to quit and cessation strategies, identify factors associated with continued smoking among women with lung cancer, and determine smoking prevalence among household members.

Methods: Data were collected through questionnaires and medical record review from 230 women.

Quality of life and health status of dyads of women with lung cancer and family members.

Purpose/objectives: To describe and compare the quality of life (QOL) and health status of dyads of women with lung cancer and their family members and to explore the correlates of family members' QOL.

Research Approach: Descriptive, cross-sectional.

Setting: Interview, self-report.

Quality of life and meaning of illness of women with lung cancer.

Purpose/objectives: To describe the quality of life (QOL) of women with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and examine relationships of demographic, clinical, health status, and meaning of illness (MOI) characteristics to QOL.

Design: Descriptive, cross-sectional survey.

Setting: In-person interviews in homes or research offices.

Challenges of recruitment and retention in multisite clinical research.

This article reviews recruitment and retention issues in a multisite, multistate (California, New York, Connecticut, Georgia, Alabama) 6-month prospective cross-sectional study focused on quality of life among 230 women with lung cancer. Recruitment of women into clinical trials and their retention are important, yet understudied. To date, few articles have described the challenges associated with recruiting women with lung cancer to participate in clinical research.

Retention of under-served women in clinical trials: a focus group study.

More information is needed to understand how women view their participation in clinical trials. As part of the formative evaluation phase of a 4-year National Cancer Institute funded study, researchers associated with the "Community Retention Intervention Study" (CRIS) conducted focus groups to identify additional data on the underlying issues regarding the retention and compliance of under-served women in clinical trials. Six focus groups were conducted: 3 were age-based, and 3 involved participants of the Women's Health Initiative (WHI) clinical trial component in Birmingham, Alabama.