Table 1.
Selected sociodemographic, clinical and regional characteristics of patients by life expectancy (LE).
| Total Population | Short LE* | Medium LE* | Long LE* | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Patients | 24,373 | 2,253 | 11,093 | 11,027 |
| INDIVIDUAL CHARACTERISTICS, No. (%) | ||||
| Age at diagnosis | ||||
| 67–69 | 4,119 (16.9) | — | 295 (2.7) | 3,824 (34.7) |
| 70–74 | 6,938 (28.5) | — | 1,740 (15.7) | 5,198 (47.1) |
| 75–79 | 6,607 (27.1) | 158 (7.0) | 4,444 (40.1) | 2,005 (18.2) |
| 80–84 | 4,307 (17.7) | 728 (32.3) | 3,579 (32.3) | — |
| 85–94 | 2,402 (9.9) | 1,367 (60.7) | 1,035 (9.3) | — |
| Race | ||||
| White | 22,481 (92.2) | 2,101 (93.3) | 10,187 (91.8) | 10,193 (92.4) |
| Black | 996 (4.1) | 96 (4.3) | 501 (4.5) | 399 (3.6) |
| Other | 896 (3.7) | 56 (2.5) | 405 (3.7) | 435 (3.9) |
| Median household income | ||||
| < $33,000 | 3,678 (15.1) | 384 (17.0) | 1,761 (15.9) | 1,533 (13.9) |
| $33–40,000 | 3,189 (13.1) | 281 (12.5) | 1,479 (13.3) | 1,429 (13.0) |
| $40–50,000 | 5,101 (20.9) | 530 (23.5) | 2,331 (21.0) | 2,240 (20.3) |
| $50–63,000 | 5,250 (21.5) | 486 (21.6) | 2,458 (22.2) | 2,306 (20.9) |
| > $63,000 | 7,155 (29.4) | 572 (25.4) | 3,064 (27.6) | 3,519 (31.9) |
| Patient residence | ||||
| Metro area | 21,358 (87.6) | 2,006 (89.0) | 9,798 (88.3) | 9,544 (86.6) |
| Non-metro area | 3,014 (12.4) | 247 (11.0) | 1,295 (11.7) | 1,473 (13.4) |
| Comorbidity index (Elixhauser) | ||||
| 0 | 11,769 (48.3) | 30 (1.3) | 3,696 (33.3) | 8,043 (72.9) |
| 1–2 | 9,493 (38.9) | 797 (35.4) | 5,712 (51.5) | 2,984 (27.1) |
| 3 or more | 3,111 (12.8) | 1,426 (63.3) | 1,685 (15.2) | — |
| Mean LE ± SD | 9.0 (3.5) | 3.7 (0.4) | 6.9 (1.2) | 12.3 (1.9) |
| Received chemotherapy | ||||
| Yes | 1,817 (7.5) | 67 (3.0) | 593 (5.3) | 1,157 (10.5) |
| No | 22,556 (92.5) | 2,186 (97.0) | 10,500 (94.7) | 9,870 (89.5) |
| Time to BCS | ||||
| ≤ 45 days | 18,444 (75.7) | 1,671 (74.1) | 8,323 (75.0) | 8,450 (76.6) |
| > 45 days | 5,929 (24.3) | 582 (25.9) | 2,770 (25.0) | 2,577 (23.4) |
| Hormone Receptor status | ||||
| Positive | 19,685 (80.8) | 1,770 (78.6) | 8,975 (80.9) | 8,940 (81.1) |
| Negative | 2,110 (8.7) | 186 (8.2) | 909 (8.2) | 1,015 (9.2) |
| Unknown | 2,578 (10.6) | 297 (13.2) | 1,209 (10.9) | 1,072 (9.7) |
| Recent visit to a PCP** | ||||
| Yes | 23,637 (97.0) | 2,212 (98.2) | 10,891 (98.2) | 10,534 (95.5) |
| No | 736 (3.0) | 41 (1.8) | 202 (1.8) | 493 (4.5) |
| REGIONAL CHARACTERISTICS, Mean (SD)*** | ||||
| MDs per 100,000 people | 209 (29.8) | 210 (29.7) | 210 (29.9) | 208 (29.8) |
| Radiation Oncologists per 100,000 people | 1 (0.3) | 1 (0.3) | 1 (0.3) | 1 (0.3) |
| Percent of MDs in primary care | 36 (2.9) | 35 (2.9) | 36 (2.9) | 36 (2.8) |
| Hospital beds per 1,000 people | 2 (0.5) | 2 (0.5) | 2 (0.5) | 2 (0.5) |
| Total Medicare reimbursements per enrollee (Part A and B) | 8,993 (1,484) | 9,181 (1,454) | 9,052 (1,465) | 8,895 (1,503) |
| Surgical discharges per 1,000 Medicare enrollees | 97 (13.5) | 98 (12.8) | 97 (13.4) | 97 (13.7) |
| Non-HMO Mortality: ASR-adjusted % of deaths among Medicare enrollees without HMO coverage | 5 (0.4) | 5 (0.4) | 5 (0.4) | 5 (0.5) |
| CMS Hospital Compare technical process quality measures composite quality score (AMI, CHF, Pneumonia)**** | 94 (1.8) | 94 (1.9) | 94 (1.8) | 94 (1.8) |
| State CON status, No. (%) | ||||
| Yes | 8,778 (36.0) | 793 (35.2) | 4,000 (36.1) | 3,985 (36.1) |
| No | 15,595 (64.0) | 1,460 (64.8) | 7,093 (63.9) | 7,042 (63.9) |
AMI indicates Acute Myocardial Infarction; ASR indicates Age, Sex, and Race; BCS indicates breast-conserving surgery; CHF indicates Congestive Heart Failure; CMS indicates Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services; CON indicates Certificate of Need; HMO indicates Health Maintenance Organization.
*
Short LE median survival = 4.73 years, 52.9% dying before 5 years; medium LE median survival = 9.55 years, 21.6% dying before 5 years; long LE median survival >10 years, 8.4% dying before 5 years.
**
Indicates an office visit with a primary care physician in the 24 through 3 months prior to diagnosis.
***
Data from 2006.
****
Data from 2007.