(HealthDay News) — Insurance status mediates racial and ethnic inequities in advanced-stage cervical cancer diagnosis, according to a study published in JAMA Network Open.
Researchers examined the extent to which racial and ethnic differences in the diagnosis of advanced-stage cervical cancer are mediated by insurance status in a cohort of 23,942 women aged 21 to 64 years. Most (59.4%) had private or Medicare insurance, 32.5% had Medicaid, and 8.0% were uninsured.
The proportion of patients with a diagnosis of early-stage cervical cancer was highest among White patients (53.3%), followed by Hispanic (51.6%), Asian or Pacific Islander (49.9%), American Indian or Alaska Native (48.7%), and Black (41.7%) patients.
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Compared with patients who were uninsured or had Medicaid, a larger proportion of patients with private or Medicare insurance received a diagnosis of early-stage cancer (57.8% vs 41.1%).
Compared with White patients, Black patients had higher odds of receiving a diagnosis of advanced-stage cervical cancer in models adjusting for confounders (odds ratio, 1.18; 95% CI, 1.08-1.29).
Being uninsured or having Medicaid accounted for more than half of the racial and ethnic inequities in the diagnosis of advanced-stage cervical cancer across all racial and ethnic minority groups, when compared with White patients (ranging from 51.3% for Black patients to 55.1% for Hispanic patients).
“This study suggests that insurance is a modifiable risk factor that plays an important role in the racial and ethnic inequities observed in the diagnosis of advanced-stage cervical cancer,” the study authors wrote.
Two authors disclosed financial ties to Flatiron Health, an independent subsidiary of Roche.
