The Impact of Preexisting Mental Health Disorders on the Diagnosis, Treatment, and Survival among Lung Cancer Patients in the U.S. Military Health System.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Higher cancer-related mortality has been observed among people with mental health disorders than in the general population. Both delay in diagnosis and inadequate treatment due to health care access have been found to explain the higher mortality. The U.S. Military Health System (MHS), in which all beneficiaries have equal access to health care, provides an ideal system to study this disparity where there are no or minimal barriers to health care access. This study assessed preexisting mental health disorders and stage at diagnosis, receipt of cancer treatment, and overall survival among patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in the U.S. MHS.

Methods

The study used data from the linked database from the Department of Defense's Central Cancer Registry and

SUBMITTER: Lin J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5777503 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature