New Breast Cancer Findings from National Cancer Institute (NCI) Discussed (Fragmentation of Care Among Black Women With Breast Cancer and Comorbidities: the Role of Health Systems)

2021 JUN 25 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- Researchers detail new data in Oncology - Breast Cancer. According to news reporting out of Rockville, Maryland, by NewsRx editors, research stated, “Black women are disproportionately burdened by comorbidities and breast cancer. The complexities of coordinating care for multiple health conditions can lead to adverse consequences.”

Financial supporters for this research include NIH National Cancer Institute (NCI), American Cancer Society, Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, U.S. Army Medical Research & Materiel Command (USAMRMC), Breast Cancer Research Foundation, Health Policy Research Scholars Program, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF), Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) Program of the National Cancer Institute, Centers for Disease Control & Prevention - USA, State of New Jersey, Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey.

Our news journalists obtained a quote from the research from National Cancer Institute (NCI), “Care coordination may be exacerbated when care is received outside the same health system, defined as care fragmentation. We examine types of practice setting for primary and breast cancer care to assess care fragmentation. We analyzed data from a prospective cohort of Black women diagnosed with breast cancer in New Jersey who also had a prior diagnosis of diabetes and/or hypertension (N = 228). Following breast cancer diagnosis, we examined types of practice setting for first primary care visit and primary breast surgery, through medical chart abstraction, and identified whether care was used within or outside the same health system. We used multivariable logistic regression to explore sociodemographic and clinical factors associated with care fragmentation. Diverse primary care settings were used: medical groups (32.0%), health systems (29.4%), solo practices (23.7%), Federally Qualified Health Centers (8.3%), and independent hospitals (6.1%). Surgical care predominately occurred in health systems (79.8%), with most hospitals being Commission on Cancer-accredited. Care fragmentation was experienced by 78.5% of Black women, and individual-level factors (age, health insurance, cancer stage, and comorbidity count) were not associated with care fragmentation (P > .05). The majority of Black breast cancer survivors with comorbidities received primary care and surgical care in different health systems, illustrating care fragmentation.”

According to the news editors, the research concluded: “Strategies for care coordination and health care delivery across health systems and practice settings are needed for health equity.”

This research has been peer-reviewed.

For more information on this research see: Fragmentation of Care Among Black Women With Breast Cancer and Comorbidities: the Role of Health Systems. JCO Oncology Practice, 2021;17(5). JCO Oncology Practice can be contacted at: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, Two Commerce Sq, 2001 Market St, Philadelphia, PA 19103, USA.

Our news journalists report that additional information may be obtained by contacting Michelle Doose, National Cancer Institute (NCI), Helthcare Delivery Res Program, Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences, Rockville, MD, United States. Additional authors for this research include Janeth I. Sanchez, Elisa V. Bandera, Joel C. Cantor, Jennifer Tsui, Jesse J. Plascak, Michael B. Steinberg, Chi-Chen Hong and Kitaw Demissie.

The direct object identifier (DOI) for that additional information is: https://doi.org/10.1200/OP.20.01089. 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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