Findings on Cancer Reported by Investigators at George Washington University (The Influence of Social Determinants On Cancer Screening In a Medicaid Sample): Cancer

2023 AUG 10 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- Research findings on Cancer are discussed in a new report. According to news originating from Washington, District of Columbia, by NewsRx correspondents, research stated, “Little attention has been paid to the influence of individually measured social deter-minants of health on cancer screening tests in the Medicaid population. Analysis was conducted on 2015-2020 claims data from a subgroup of Medicaid enroll-ees from the District of Columbia Medicaid Cohort Study (N=8,943) who were eligible for colorec-tal (n=2,131), breast (n=1,156), and cervical cancer (n= 5,068) screening.”

Funders for this research include DC Medicaid Cohort Study GW IRB, NIH National Institute on Minority Health & Health Disparities (NIMHD).

Our news journalists obtained a quote from the research from George Washington University, “Participants were grouped into four distinct social determinants of health groups on the basis of their responses to social deter-minants of health questionnaire. This study estimated the influence of the four social determinants of health groups on the receipt of each screening test using log-binomial regression adjusted for demographics, illness severity, and neighborhood-level deprivation. The receipt of cancer screening tests was 42%, 58%, and 66% for colorectal, cervical, and breast cancer, respectively. Those in the most disadvantaged social determinants of health group were less likely to receive a colonoscopy/sigmoidoscopy than those in the least disadvantaged one (adjusted RR=0.70, 95% CI=0.54, 0.92). The pattern for mammograms and Pap smears was similar (adjusted RR=0.94, 95% CI=0.80, 1.11 and adjusted RR=0.90, 95% CI=0.81, 1.00, respectively). In contrast, participants in the most disadvantaged social determinants of health group were more likely to receive fecal occult blood test than those in the least disadvantaged one (adjusted RR=1.52, 95% CI=1.09, 2.12). Severe social determinants of health measured at the individual level are associated with lower cancer preventive screening. A targeted approach that addresses the social and economic adversities that affect cancer screening could result in higher preventive screening rates in this Med-icaid population. Am J Prev Med 2023;65(1):92-100.& COPY; 2023 American Journal of Preventive Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc.”

According to the news editors, the research concluded: “This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).”

This research has been peer-reviewed.

For more information on this research see: The Influence of Social Determinants On Cancer Screening In a Medicaid Sample. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 2023;65(1):92-100. American Journal of Preventive Medicine can be contacted at: Elsevier Science Inc, Ste 800, 230 Park Ave, New York, NY 10169, USA. (Elsevier - www.elsevier.com; American Journal of Preventive Medicine - http://www.journals.elsevier.com/american-journal-of-preventive-medicine/)

The news correspondents report that additional information may be obtained from Anne R. Markus, George Washington University, Milken Institute School of Public Health, Dept. of Health Policy and Management, Washington, DC, United States. Additional authors for this research include Melissa L. McCarthy, Yixuan Li, Marcee E. Wilder and Jillian Catalanotti.

The direct object identifier (DOI) for that additional information is: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amepre.2023.02.005. This DOI is a link to an online electronic document that is either free or for purchase, and can be your direct source for a journal article and its citation.

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