Safety net hospital provides equitable care in breast screening

Safety net hospitals provide equitable care in breast cancer screening in terms of race and ethnicity, a study published December 12 in Academic Radiology found.  Researchers led by Alexander Boyko, MD, from Boston Medical Center in Massachusetts also found that breast cancer diagnosed at advanced stages were tied to higher mortality and lower odds of undergoing screening mammography in a safety net population. “Given no racial or ethnic differences in mortality, the safety net infrastructure at our institution effectively provides equitable cancer care once a cancer is confirmed,” Boyko and co-authors wrote.  Despite the benefits of regular mammography screening on overall breast cancer mortality, many women of various racial and ethnic backgrounds do not undergo routine mammography. And while previous reports suggest that Black and Hispanic women are more likely to undergo screening, Black women experience delayed treatment initiation and prolonged treatment duration more often than white women. Other inequities have been reported in care utilization, insurance coverage, and health outcomes for women of diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds. The Boyko team identified predictors tied to lower mortality in women diagnosed and treated for breast cancer at a safety net hospital. It included data from 907 women with an average age of 59 years. Of these, 46% were Black, 40% were white, 10% were listed as “other,” and 4% were Asian. The team found no significant diffe...
Source: AuntMinnie.com Headlines - Category: Radiology Authors: Tags: Subspecialties Womens Imaging Breast Imaging Source Type: news