Oncology Commons^™

African American Males Have More Distress During Cancer Treatment Than White Males, Stephanie Kjelstrom, Charis Wynn, Sharon Larson

College of Population Health Faculty Papers

African American (AA) males have a higher incidence and mortality rate for some cancers than other races and sexes, which could be associated with distress during treatment, medical mistrust, and health disparities. We hypothesize distress in AA males during treatment is higher than in other races and sexes. We assessed effect modification of moderate to severe (≥ 4) distress scores during cancer treatment by race and sex, age, and socioeconomic status (SES). National Comprehensive Cancer Network's distress thermometer (scale 0-10) and characteristics for 770 cancer patients were collected from a Philadelphia hospital. Variables included age, sex, race, smoking status, marital …

Is There Really A Difference In Outcomes Between Men And Women With Hepatocellular Cancer?, Andrea Fa, Denise M. Danos, Lauren Maniscalco, Yong Yi, Xiao Cheng Wu, Mary A. Maluccio, Quyen D. Chu, John M. Lyons

School of Public Health Faculty Publications

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a male-dominated disease. Currently, gender differences remain incompletely defined. Data from the state tumor registry were used to investigate differences in demographics, comorbidities, treatment patterns, and cancer-specific survival (HSS) among HCC patients according to gender. Additional analyses were performed to evaluate racial differences among women with HCC. 2627 patients with HCC were included; 498 (19%) were women. Women were mostly white (58%) or African American (39%)—only 3.8% were of another or unknown race. Women were older (65.1 vs. 61.3 years), more obese (33.7% vs. 24.2%), and diagnosed at an earlier stage (31.7% vs. 28.4%) than men. …

Disparities In The Use Of Radiation Therapy For Postlumpectomy Breast Cancer, Deborah Rothley

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Early-stage breast cancer can be highly curable when properly treated using national standards of care. However, disparities in treatment, including radiation therapy after lumpectomy, may result in disproportional mortality rates in African American women. The purpose of this study was to add to the body of research to help determine the reasons for an underutilization of radiation therapy among African American women and whether the disparity has continued by analyzing recent patient data. Anderson’s behavioral model was used to frame the study and help determine the associations between the predisposing and enabling independent variables of race, age, health insurance status, …

Identifying And Targeting Age-Related Colorectal Cancer Screening Rate Disparities In Family Medicine Residency Clinics, Jonathan J. Blaza, Jasmine R. Wiley, Matthew Gill, Alonzo Jalan, Will Lehmann, Deborah Simpson, Jeffrey A. Stearns

Will Lehmann, MD

Background: Health care systems continuously seek to improve patient care through population-level analysis of clinical quality metrics and patient characteristics to identify disparities in care. Nationally, disparities in colorectal cancer (CRC) screening rates have been identified with lower screening rates reported for patients who are uninsured and/or lower socioeconomic status, African American/black, Asian, and non-English-speaking Hispanic patients. No age-related CRC screening rate disparities with associated interventions have been reported.

Purpose: Determine and address CRC screening disparities in care provided to eligible patients > 50 years old in two primary care residency clinics.

Methods: Retrospective analysis using REAL-G (race, ethnicity, age, preferred …

Identifying And Targeting Age-Related Colorectal Cancer Screening Rate Disparities In Family Medicine Residency Clinics, Jonathan J. Blaza, Jasmine R. Wiley, Matthew Gill, Alonzo Jalan, Will Lehmann, Deborah Simpson, Jeffrey A. Stearns

Jeffrey Stearns, MD

Background: Health care systems continuously seek to improve patient care through population-level analysis of clinical quality metrics and patient characteristics to identify disparities in care. Nationally, disparities in colorectal cancer (CRC) screening rates have been identified with lower screening rates reported for patients who are uninsured and/or lower socioeconomic status, African American/black, Asian, and non-English-speaking Hispanic patients. No age-related CRC screening rate disparities with associated interventions have been reported.

Purpose: Determine and address CRC screening disparities in care provided to eligible patients > 50 years old in two primary care residency clinics.

Methods: Retrospective analysis using REAL-G (race, ethnicity, age, preferred …

Identifying And Targeting Age-Related Colorectal Cancer Screening Rate Disparities In Family Medicine Residency Clinics, Jonathan J. Blaza, Jasmine R. Wiley, Matthew Gill, Alonzo Jalan, Will Lehmann, Deborah Simpson, Jeffrey A. Stearns

Journal of Patient-Centered Research and Reviews

Background: Health care systems continuously seek to improve patient care through population-level analysis of clinical quality metrics and patient characteristics to identify disparities in care. Nationally, disparities in colorectal cancer (CRC) screening rates have been identified with lower screening rates reported for patients who are uninsured and/or lower socioeconomic status, African American/black, Asian, and non-English-speaking Hispanic patients. No age-related CRC screening rate disparities with associated interventions have been reported.

Purpose: Determine and address CRC screening disparities in care provided to eligible patients > 50 years old in two primary care residency clinics.

Methods: Retrospective analysis using REAL-G (race, ethnicity, age, preferred …

Abstracts From The 23rd Annual Health Care Systems Research Network Conference, March 21–23, 2017, San Diego, California

Journal of Patient-Centered Research and Reviews

This proceedings supplement includes selected abstracts presented at the 23rd annual conference of the Health Care Systems Research Network (HCSRN), held March 21–23, 2017, in San Diego, California. Formerly called the HMO Research Network, HCSRN aims to improve individual and population health through research that connects the resources and capabilities of its member health care systems.

Lung Cancer Survival Disparities In Nevada, Chima Osuoha

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in both men and women in the United States. Nevada shows moderate incidence rates of lung cancer for men but high rates for women. Little is known about the lung cancer experience and survival characteristics of the nearly 2000 new cases occurring every year in the State. The purpose of this study was to measure the extent to which geographic area of residency, gender, race, health insurance, social economic status (SES) and stage at diagnosis were associated with survival in patients diagnosed with lung cancer in Nevada. This was a retrospective …

Assessing Technologies For Information-Seeking On Prostate Cancer Screening By Low-Income Men, Susan W. Mcroy, Emily M. Cramer, Hayeon Song

Journal of Patient-Centered Research and Reviews

Purpose: This paper presents a multipart investigation of the benefits and challenges in deploying automated question-answering as an alternative to web-based searching to provide information about prostate cancer screening for low-income men age 40 years and older.

Methods: The study comprised: 1) a survey assessing current use of the Internet, mobile phones and texting; 2) a controlled observational study of both web-based searching and automated question-answering for information about prostate cancer; and 3) a formative field study in which subjects interacted with a health department nurse using text messages.

Results: Survey results suggest the target population has greater access to, …

The Influence Of Race/Ethnicity And Place Of Service On Breast Reconstruction For Medicare Beneficiaries With Mastectomy, Tracy Onega, Julie Weiss, Karla Kerlikowske, Karen Wernli

Dartmouth Scholarship

Racial disparities in breast reconstruction for breast cancer are documented. Place of service has contributed to disparities in cancer care; but the interaction of race/ethnicity and place of service has not been explicitly examined. We examined whether place of service modified the effect of race/ethnicity on receipt of reconstruction. We included women with a mastectomy for incident breast cancer in SEER-Medicare from 2005-2009. Using Medicare claims, we determined breast reconstruction within 6 months. Facility characteristics included: rural/urban location, teaching status, NCI Cancer Center designation, cooperative oncology group membership, Disproportionate Share Hospital (DSH) status, and breast surgery volume. Using multivariable logistic …

Seeking Cancer Information: An Appalachian Perspective, Robin C. Vanderpool, Bin Huang, Brent J. Shelton

Journal of Health Disparities Research and Practice

There are noted disparities by ethnicity, race, age, gender, and socioeconomic status in the reported use of and access to cancer information. Missing from this list of variables that predict these disparities are specific geographic locales, such as Appalachia, a region recognized as a medically underserved, “special population”. Through a secondary analysis of NCI’s 2003 HINTS dataset, we are able to describe the cancer information-seeking behaviors of Appalachians as compared to non-Appalachians with a focus on actual versus preferential information-seeking behaviors, information-seeking experiences, and demographics. In general, Appalachians and non-Appalachians do not significantly differ in their cancer information-seeking behaviors and …