US Cancer Survivors Foregoing Care On Cost Grounds

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Main Category: Public Health
Also Included In: Cancer / Oncology
Article Date: 06 Feb 2009 - 10:00 PDT

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Figures presented at a conference on Wednesday showed that in the United States, more than a million cancer survivors are foregoing essential medical care on grounds of cost, with Hispanics and African-Americans twice as likely to do this.

Dr Kathryn Weaver, a cancer prevention fellow at the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Maryland presented these findings to the American Association for Cancer Research conference on the Science of Health Care Disparities, which took place from 3rd to 6th February in Carefree, Arizona.

Weaver told the conference that:

"These survivors are either going without, or significantly delaying, dental care, general medical care, mental health care or prescription drugs."

"There are significant out-of-pocket expenses, even for those with insurance," added Weaver, which may explain why foregoing care due to cost was not confined to the uninsured.

Weaver and colleagues examined data from the US Center for Disease Control's (CDC's) National Health Interview Survey which happens every year and interviews between 30,000 to 40,000 households. They found 6,602 adult cancer survivors among the respondents: 64.3 per cent were female, 4.8 per cent were Hispanic, 6.4 per cent were non-Hispanic black and 88.8 per cent were non-Hispanic white.

The results showed that 7.8 per cent of the cancer survivors did not take up medical care on grounds of cost: 9.9 per cent for prescription medication, 2.7 per cent for mental health care and 11.3 per cent for dental care.

Hispanics were 2.14-fold more likely and African-Americans were 87 per cent more likely to forego prescription medications due to cost compared to non-Hispanic whites. For dental care, Hispanics were 2.31-fold more likely and African-Americans were 57 per cent more likely to go without on cost grounds compared to non-Hispanic whites.

These disparities didn't change when the researchers took into account education, health insurance coverage and other non-cancer illnesses.

Weaver said that:

"Efforts to expand insurance coverage might go some way toward addressing these problems, but absent that, clinicians need to be more aware that their patients are not getting these services and work to try to connect them to charity or low-cost care."

More than 200 abstracts were presented at the meeting, covering fields such as basic science, clinical research, population science, behavioral research and cancer survivorship. This was in addition to a program of lectures.

The conference was prompted by the wealth of new evidence that is emerging on the role of biological, genetic, environmental, behavioral and social factors that contribute to disparities in risk and outcome for cancer in minority populations, said the organizers in a pre-conference press statement.

As Dr Cheryl L. Willman, director and CEO of the University of New Mexico Cancer Research & Treatment Center said at the time:

"The goals of this conference are to bring together physicians, scientists, health professionals and health care leaders working in a variety of disciplines to discuss the latest findings in their fields, to foster collaborative interdisciplinary interactions and partnerships, and to stimulate the development of new research."

Click here for American Association for Cancer Research Minorities in Cancer Research (MICR) Council.

Sources: American Association for Cancer Research news release.

Written by: Catharine Paddock, PhD
Copyright: Medical News Today
Not to be reproduced without permission of Medical News Today

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