Transportation barriers to healthcare access may lead to rescheduled or missed appointments, thereby influencing patients’ treatment outcomes. However, the impact of transportation barriers on stopping cancer treatments remains unknown in the literature. This study aims to investigate the association between cancer patients’ travel behavior and their decisions about stopping or continuing treatments. In this study, an online survey was designed and conducted for cancer patients who received radiotherapy and chemotherapy. Comprehensive questions were asked to reveal personal- and treatment-related factors that affect participants’ decisions, including their travel behavior, travel burden, treatment characteristics, and side effects. With data collected from the survey, machine learning models were further employed to quantitatively assess the factors contributing to patients’ decision making. Results suggest that lack of access to transportation has a significant impact on cancer patients’ decisions with respect to stopping or continuing treatments. Limited access to private vehicles will likely lead to the stopping of radiotherapy. In addition, trip frequency and trip length to caregivers influence the patients’ continuing or quitting chemotherapy. Insights generated in this study have great potential to help policy makers and planners make informed decisions to enhance cancer patients’ access to treatments and improve their health outcomes.

医疗保健服务的交通障碍可能导致预约时间的安排或错过，从而影响患者的治疗效果。但是，运输障碍对停止癌症治疗的影响在文献中仍然未知。这项研究旨在调查癌症患者的出行行为与其停止或继续治疗的决定之间的关联。在这项研究中，针对接受放疗和化疗的癌症患者设计并进行了在线调查。提出了全面的问题，以揭示影响参与者决定的与个人和治疗相关的因素，包括他们的出行行为，出行负担，治疗特征和副作用。利用从调查中收集的数据，机器学习模型被进一步用来定量评估影响患者决策的因素。结果表明，交通不便对癌症患者在停止或继续治疗方面的决定具有重大影响。私家车的出入受限可能会导致放疗停止。另外，护理人员的出行频率和出行时间会影响患者继续或退出化疗。这项研究中产生的见解具有巨大的潜力，可以帮助决策者和计划者做出明智的决定，以增强癌症患者获得治疗的机会并改善其健康状况。结果表明，交通不便对癌症患者在停止或继续治疗方面的决定具有重大影响。私家车的出入受限可能会导致放疗停止。此外，护理人员的出行频率和出行时间也会影响患者继续或退出化疗。这项研究中产生的见解具有巨大的潜力，可以帮助决策者和计划者做出明智的决定，以增强癌症患者获得治疗的机会并改善其健康状况。结果表明，交通不便对癌症患者在停止或继续治疗方面的决定具有重大影响。私家车的出入受限可能会导致放疗停止。此外，护理人员的出行频率和出行时间也会影响患者继续或退出化疗。这项研究中产生的见解具有巨大的潜力，可以帮助决策者和计划者做出明智的决定，以增强癌症患者获得治疗的机会并改善其健康状况。