Racial and ethnic variation in referral times for thoracic oncologic surgery in a major metropolitan area

Copyright © 2022 The American Association for Thoracic Surgery. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved..

OBJECTIVE: The study objective was to understand the impact of race/ethnicity on access to thoracic surgical care for patients undergoing lung resection for cancer.

METHODS: We performed a retrospective analysis on 206 consecutive patients who underwent lung resection for cancer (120 female, 86 male; median age 66 years), with respect to how race and ethnicity impact time to referral for thoracic surgery to a major healthcare center. Time between initial radiographic appearance of a lung nodule/mass 1 cm or greater to surgical referral and time from surgical referral to operation were evaluated for 121 White, 30 Asian, 26 Hispanic, 12 African American, and 17 mixed or other race patients. The impact of age, sex, median income of patient's household, national and state Area Deprivation Indices, insurance type, and distance between the patient's domicile and our hospital was evaluated. The influence of the referring physician's practice (hospital-based, hospital-affiliated, or private), internal or external referral, race/ethnicity, and level of specialization was also studied.

RESULTS: African American, Asian, Hispanic, and mixed/other race patients had significantly longer wait times between initial radiographic finding of a lung nodule/mass 1 cm or greater and surgical referral compared with White individuals (median days: African American, 78; Asian, 95; Hispanic, 92; mixed or other, 65; White, 35). Multiple linear regression analysis demonstrated that race/ethnicity was the only significant predictor of prolonged time to surgical referral when adjusted for age, sex, median household income level, national and state Area Deprivation Indices, insurance type, and distance between patient's home and our hospital. The referring physician's type of practice and internal versus external referral were not significant. However, the physician's race/ethnicity and level of specialization had an impact on referral times, with nonspecialists referring patients sooner to thoracic surgery compared with specialists who ordered more workup tests. For all patient races/ethnicities, there was no difference in time between surgical referral and day of operation.

CONCLUSIONS: Race and ethnicity have a major impact on the time from initial radiographic appearance of a lung nodule/mass 1 cm or greater to referral for surgical resection for cancer. This study suggests the need to develop strategies to reduce minority wait times and improve timely access to surgery for patients with thoracic malignancies.

VIDEO ABSTRACT: Discussion of how race and ethnicity impact referral time to thoracic surgery discussed by Dr Moises Hernandez.

Medienart:

E-Artikel

Erscheinungsjahr:

2023

Erschienen:

2023

Enthalten in:

Zur Gesamtaufnahme - volume:165

Enthalten in:

The Journal of thoracic and cardiovascular surgery - 165(2023), 2 vom: 01. Feb., Seite 482-494.e1

Sprache:

Englisch

Beteiligte Personen:

Hernandez, Moises [VerfasserIn]
Winicki, Nolan [VerfasserIn]
Kadivar, Armita [VerfasserIn]
Alvarez, Sebastian [VerfasserIn]
Zhang, Yu [VerfasserIn]
Maguire, Stephanie [VerfasserIn]
Thareja, Nikita [VerfasserIn]
Onaitis, Mark [VerfasserIn]
Boys, Joshua [VerfasserIn]
Thistlethwaite, Patricia A [VerfasserIn]

Links:

Volltext

Themen:

Administrative database
Journal Article
Lung cancer
Minority populations
Racial disparities
Referral time
Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
Thoracic surgery
Video-Audio Media

Anmerkungen:

Date Completed 16.01.2023

Date Revised 17.01.2023

published: Print-Electronic

Citation Status MEDLINE

doi:

10.1016/j.jtcvs.2022.05.036

funding:

Förderinstitution / Projekttitel:

PPN (Katalog-ID):

NLM343839598