Skip to main content
NCBI home page
American Journal of Public Health logoLink to American Journal of Public Health
. 1996 Apr;86(4):582–586. doi: 10.2105/ajph.86.4.582

Surgery for colorectal cancer: Race-related differences in rates and survival among Medicare beneficiaries.

G S Cooper 1, Z Yuan 1, C S Landefeld 1, A A Rimm 1
PMCID: PMC1380567  PMID: 8604797

Abstract

This study examined surgery for colorectal cancer among Medicare beneficiaries 65 years of age or older with an initial diagnosis in 1987 (n = 81 579). Black patients were less likely than White to undergo surgical resection (68% vs 78%), even after age, comorbidity, and location and extent of tumor were controlled for. Among those who underwent resection, Black patients were more likely to die (a 2-year mortality rate of 40.0% vs 33.5% in White patients); this disparity also remained after confounders had been controlled. The disparities were similar in teaching and nonteaching hospitals and in private and public hospitals. These data may indicate racially based differences among Medicare beneficiaries in access to and quality of care for colorectal cancer.

Full text

PDF
582

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Caldwell S. H., Popenoe R. Perceptions and misperceptions of skin color. Ann Intern Med. 1995 Apr 15;122(8):614–617. doi: 10.7326/0003-4819-122-8-199504150-00010. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Dayal H., Polissar L., Yang C. Y., Dahlberg S. Race, socioeconomic status, and other prognostic factors for survival from colo-rectal cancer. J Chronic Dis. 1987;40(9):857–864. doi: 10.1016/0021-9681(87)90185-8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Eley J. W., Hill H. A., Chen V. W., Austin D. F., Wesley M. N., Muss H. B., Greenberg R. S., Coates R. J., Correa P., Redmond C. K. Racial differences in survival from breast cancer. Results of the National Cancer Institute Black/White Cancer Survival Study. JAMA. 1994 Sep 28;272(12):947–954. doi: 10.1001/jama.272.12.947. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Fisher E. S., Whaley F. S., Krushat W. M., Malenka D. J., Fleming C., Baron J. A., Hsia D. C. The accuracy of Medicare's hospital claims data: progress has been made, but problems remain. Am J Public Health. 1992 Feb;82(2):243–248. doi: 10.2105/ajph.82.2.243. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Goldberg K. C., Hartz A. J., Jacobsen S. J., Krakauer H., Rimm A. A. Racial and community factors influencing coronary artery bypass graft surgery rates for all 1986 Medicare patients. JAMA. 1992 Mar 18;267(11):1473–1477. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Jepson C., Kessler L. G., Portnoy B., Gibbs T. Black-white differences in cancer prevention knowledge and behavior. Am J Public Health. 1991 Apr;81(4):501–504. doi: 10.2105/ajph.81.4.501. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Krook J. E., Moertel C. G., Gunderson L. L., Wieand H. S., Collins R. T., Beart R. W., Kubista T. P., Poon M. A., Meyers W. C., Mailliard J. A. Effective surgical adjuvant therapy for high-risk rectal carcinoma. N Engl J Med. 1991 Mar 14;324(11):709–715. doi: 10.1056/NEJM199103143241101. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Mayer W. J., McWhorter W. P. Black/white differences in non-treatment of bladder cancer patients and implications for survival. Am J Public Health. 1989 Jun;79(6):772–775. doi: 10.2105/ajph.79.6.772. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. McBean A. M., Warren J. L., Babish J. D. Measuring the incidence of cancer in elderly Americans using Medicare claims data. Cancer. 1994 May 1;73(9):2417–2425. doi: 10.1002/1097-0142(19940501)73:9<2417::aid-cncr2820730927>3.0.co;2-l. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Moertel C. G., Fleming T. R., Macdonald J. S., Haller D. G., Laurie J. A., Goodman P. J., Ungerleider J. S., Emerson W. A., Tormey D. C., Glick J. H. Levamisole and fluorouracil for adjuvant therapy of resected colon carcinoma. N Engl J Med. 1990 Feb 8;322(6):352–358. doi: 10.1056/NEJM199002083220602. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Natarajan N., Nemoto T., Mettlin C., Murphy G. P. Race-related differences in breast cancer patients. Results of the 1982 national survey of breast cancer by the American College of Surgeons. Cancer. 1985 Oct 1;56(7):1704–1709. doi: 10.1002/1097-0142(19851001)56:7<1704::aid-cncr2820560740>3.0.co;2-l. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Steele G. D., Jr, Winchester D. P., Menck H. R., Murphy G. P. Clinical highlights from the National Cancer Data Base: 1993. CA Cancer J Clin. 1993 Mar-Apr;43(2):71–82. doi: 10.3322/canjclin.43.2.71. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Whittle J., Conigliaro J., Good C. B., Lofgren R. P. Racial differences in the use of invasive cardiovascular procedures in the Department of Veterans Affairs medical system. N Engl J Med. 1993 Aug 26;329(9):621–627. doi: 10.1056/NEJM199308263290907. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Williams D. R. The concept of race in Health Services Research: 1966 to 1990. Health Serv Res. 1994 Aug;29(3):261–274. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Wingo P. A., Tong T., Bolden S. Cancer statistics, 1995. CA Cancer J Clin. 1995 Jan-Feb;45(1):8–30. doi: 10.3322/canjclin.45.1.8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from American Journal of Public Health are provided here courtesy of American Public Health Association

RESOURCES