Table 1.

Baseline Demographics and Clinical Characteristics of Final Study Population by Length of Time From Biopsy-Confirmed Diagnosis to Treatment

Demographic or Clinical Characteristic	0 to 59 Days From Biopsy-Confirmed Diagnosis to Treatment (n = 1,603)		≥ 60 Days From Biopsy-Confirmed Diagnosis to Treatment (n = 183)		P*
	No. of Patients	%	No. of Patients	%
Demographic
Age, years					.58
< 45	254	16	27	15
45-54	280	17	40	22
55-64	344	21	43	24
65-74	336	21	39	21
75-84	314	20	26	14
≥ 85	75	5	8	4
Race					.04
White	906	57	89	49
Nonwhite	697	44	94	51
Marital status					.99
Married	264	16	33	18
Single	225	14	26	14
Divorced/separated	252	16	28	15
Widowed	392	24	44	24
Unknown	470	29	52	28
Rural/urban status†					.04
Metropolitan	891	56	113	62
Nonmetropolitan	705	44	69	38
HPSA†					1.00‡
HPSA	42	3	4	2
Non-HPSA	1,554	97	178	98
Year of diagnosis					.61
2000	508	32	64	35
2001	548	34	62	34
2002	547	34	57	31
Tumor/cancer characteristics
Stage at diagnosis					.15
In situ	167	10	29	16
Localized	783	49	86	47
Regional	570	36	61	33
Distant	83	5	7	4
Tumor size, mm					.70
0-9	208	13	22	12
10-19	411	26	52	28
20-49	582	36	60	33
≥ 50	166	10	17	9
Unknown	236	15	32	18
Hormone receptor status					.09
Positive	836	52	92	50
Negative	298	19	25	14
Unknown/undetermined	469	29	66	36
Morbidity indicators
Charlson comorbidity index					.85
0	726	45	82	45
1-2	587	37	68	37
3-5	214	13	22	12
≥ 6	76	5	11	6
Blind or disabled§					.36
Yes	381	24	38	21
No	1,222	76	145	79
Location of care
Assisted living care					.70
Yes	145	9	15	8
No	1,458	91	168	92
Home health care					.02
Yes	846	53	80	44
No	757	47	103	56
Procedures conducted between diagnosis and treatment
Additional biopsies					< .001
Any	154	10	36	20
None	1,449	90	147	80
Medical imaging					.27
Any	83	5	13	7
None	1,520	95	170	93
Hospitalization (not cancer related)					< .001
Any	39	2	15	8
None	1,564	98	168	92
Emergency department visit (not cancer related)					< .001
Any	23	1	10	6
None	1,580	99	173	95
Initial treatment information
Type of treatment first received					< .001
Surgery	1,334	83	117	64
Radiation	63	4	14	8
Chemotherapy	149	9	31	17
Hormonal or biologic	57	4	21	12
Treatment types received
Surgery					.19‡
Breast-conserving surgery	579	36	77	42
Mastectomy	989	62	101	55
None	35	2	5	3
Radiation therapy					.79
Any	824	51	96	53
None	779	49	87	48
Chemotherapy					.05
Any	683	43	64	35
None	920	57	119	65
Hormonal or targeted biologic therapy					.38
Any	458	29	58	32
None	1,145	71	125	68

NOTE. Percentages may not add to 100% because of rounding error.

Abbreviation: HPSA, health professional shortage area.

^*P value is from χ² test.

^†Eight women did not have information about county of residence at diagnosis.

^‡P value is from Fisher's exact test.

^§Only two women were blind.