Older black women are less likely to undergo mammography and are more often given a diagnosis of advanced breast cancer than older white women. The purpose of this presentation is to illustrate the value of using large administrative data sets to understand the impact of race on breast cancer outcomes. Population based data from three geographic areas of the United States included in the National Cancer Institutes Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results Program (SEER) and Medicare Claims Data were used. Patients were classified as non-users, peri-diagnosis users and regular users. The results presented will demonstrate that black women are more likely to not undergo mammography and to be given a diagnosis of late stage disease than white women. Among regular users, previous mammography alone explained about 30% of the excess late-stage disease in black women. We conclude that administrative databases can be used to study the impact of race on breast cancer outcome and that differences in breast cancer stage of diagnosis between older black and white women is related to previous mammography use.
Learning Objectives: 1. At the conclusion of the session the participants will be able to understand how to use the race variable for research related to breast cancer. 2. Understand the impact of race on breast cancer outcomes
Keywords: Breast Cancer, Medicare
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: None
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.