Table 3.
Prevalence of Palliative Care Use and Type for Patients With Metastatic Breast Cancer Overall and by Race/Ethnicity
| White | Black | Asian | American Indian or Alaska native | Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander | Hispanic | All | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Palliative care use, n (%) | |||||||
| No | 84,396 (79) | 20,044 (80) | 3388 (82) | 352 (78) | 320 (81) | 7343 (84) | 117,621 (79) |
| Yes | 23,015 (21) | 5004 (20) | 722 (18) | 101 (22) | 74 (19) | 1397 (16) | 30,772 (21) |
| p a | <0.001 | ||||||
| Percent increase in palliative care use per year, 2004–2020b, % (95% CI) | 3.6 (3.3 to 3.8) | 3.7 (3.2 to 4.3) | 5.8 (4.1 to 7.6) | 2.5 (−1.4 to 6.5) | 1.3 (−3.3 to 6.1) | 5.4 (4.2 to 6.6) | 3.6 (3.4 to 3.9) |
| p | <0.001 | <0.001 | <0.001 | 0.213 | 0.590 | <0.001 | <0.001 |
| Type of palliative care,c n (%) | |||||||
| Surgery | 814 (3) | 164 (3) | 34 (5) | <10 (<6) | <10 (<7) | 47 (3) | 1089 (3) |
| Radiation therapy | 8504 (37) | 1774 (36) | 234 (32) | 34 (34) | 21 (28) | 539 (39) | 11,269 (37) |
| Systemic therapy | 8236 (36) | 1975 (40) | 258 (36) | 31 (31) | 24 (32) | 495 (35) | 11,180 (36) |
| Pain management | 1112 (5) | 239 (5) | 34 (5) | <10 (<7) | <10 (<11) | 60 (4) | 1485 (5) |
| Any combination of therapies | 3405 (15) | 615 (12) | 129 (18) | 19 (19) | 15 (20) | 211 (15) | 4453 (15) |
| Type not specified | 944 (4) | 237 (5) | 33 (5) | <10 (<6) | <10 (<2) | 45 (3) | 1296 (4) |
| p a | <0.001 | ||||||
a
p Values were calculated using Pearson's χ2 tests for categorical data.
b
Percent (95% CI) increase in palliative care use per year were calculated using the generalized linear model with the binomial distribution and log link.
c
According to the National Cancer Database, palliative care, including surgery, radiation therapy, systemic therapy, and/or pain management therapy, is performed to control pain and/or relieve symptoms, with no attempt to diagnose, stage, or treat the primary tumor.
CI, confidence interval.