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. 1998 Mar;88(3):454–457. doi: 10.2105/ajph.88.3.454

Hospital volume differences and five-year survival from breast cancer.

P J Roohan 1, N A Bickell 1, M S Baptiste 1, G D Therriault 1, E P Ferrara 1, A L Siu 1
PMCID: PMC1508346  PMID: 9518982

Abstract

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of hospital volume on long-term survival for women with breast cancer. METHODS: Survival analysis and proportional-hazard modeling were used to assess 5-year survival and risk of death, adjusting for clinical and sociodemographic variables. RESULTS: At 5 years, patients from very low-volume hospitals had a 60% greater risk of all-cause mortality than patients from high-volume hospitals. CONCLUSIONS: Hospital volume of breast cancer surgical cases has a strong positive effect on 5-year survival. Research is needed to identify whether processes of care, especially postsurgical adjuvant treatments, contribute to survival differences.

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Selected References

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