Evaluation of the duplication of staging CT scans for localized colon cancer in a Medicare population.

ABSTRACT:

Background

To quantify and characterize duplicated tests performed during the staging of localized colon cancer in the Medicare population.

Methods

We used the SEER-Medicare linked database to select patients diagnosed with localized colon cancer between the years 1996 and 2009. We considered a patient as adequately staged after having received a colonoscopy, an abdominal computed tomography (CT) scan, and a pelvic CT scan. Abdominal and pelvic CT scans performed between complete staging and first cancer-directed treatment, if not ordered due to an acute condition, were considered duplicates. We characterized the institutions providing the tests and evaluated the association with survival using a weighted pooled logistic regression adjusted by baseline and time-varying confo

SUBMITTER: Garcia-Albeniz X 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4197077 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature