Disparities in time to prostate cancer treatment initiation before and after the Affordable Care Act.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Delayed access to care may contribute to disparities in prostate cancer (PCa). The Affordable Care Act (ACA) aimed at increasing access and reducing healthcare disparities, but its impact on timely treatment initiation for PCa men is unknown.

Methods

Men with intermediate- and high-risk PCa diagnosed 2010-2016 and treated with curative surgery or radiotherapy were identified in the National Cancer Database. Multivariable logistic regression modeled the effect of race and insurance type on treatment delay >180 days after diagnosis. Cochran-Armitage test measured annual trends in delays, and joinpoint regression assessed if 2014, the year the ACA became fully operationalized, was significant for inflection in crude rates of major delays.

Results

Of 422,506 el

SUBMITTER: Janopaul-Naylor JR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10523962 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature