 | The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA |
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| The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA |
Natalia Sadetsky, Deborah P Lubeck, and David Pasta. Urology Outcomes Research Group, UCSF, 3333 California st # 282, San Francisco, CA 94143, (415) 514-0693, natalia@itsa.ucsf.edu
Objective: Evaluate impact of insurance coverage on number of visits to the health professionals in men newly diagnosed with prostate cancer and treated with radical prostatectomy. Data from the CaPSURE (Cancer of the Prostate Strategic Urological Research Endeavor), a national longitudinal database registry of men with all stages and treatments of prostate cancer were used for this study. The study sample was restricted to newly diagnosed men who selected radical prostatectomy, and had at least 6 months of post treatment follow-up. Patient clinical and sociodemographic characteristics, and number of visits to heath professionals were evaluated by chi-square and mixed models analyses. Insurance coverage was divided into 5 categories: Medicare only, Medicare plus supplement, Private (HMO and PPO), FFS, and Government (including Medicaid, VA and none). Results: 1074 men met the study criteria. Distribution of insurance coverage was as follows: 51% - Private, 21.6 % - Medicare plus supplement, 13.7 %-FFS, 4.85 %-Government, and 8.85%- Medicare only. In the multivariate mixed model, insurance status, co-morbidities count, ethnicity and Gleason scores at diagnosis were predictors for utilization of services (p < 0.05). Conclusion: Utilization of services can be affected not only by clinical and demographic charachterictics but also insurance status. Future explorations of specific characteristics of different insurance groups are needed. Learning Objectives: 1.Recognize differences in utilization of services in patients with prostate cancer 2.Identify factors that could influence access to services.
Learning Objectives:
Keywords: Access to Care, Cancer
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I have a significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.
Relationship: grant