New Findings in Mental Health Diseases and Conditions Described from Johns Hopkins University (Predictors of Cancer Screening Among Black and White Maryland Medicaid Enrollees With Serious Mental Illness): Mental Health Diseases and Conditions

2021 OCT 19 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- Fresh data on Mental Health Diseases and Conditions are presented in a new report. According to news reporting originating in Baltimore, Maryland, by NewsRx journalists, research stated, “Cancer is the second leading cause of death for people with serious mental illness (SMI), such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. People with SMI receive cancer screenings at lower rates than the general population.”

Financial support for this research came from National Institutes of Health (NIH) - USA.

The news reporters obtained a quote from the research from Johns Hopkins University, “We sought to identify factors associated with cancer screening in a publicly insured population with SMI and stratified by race, a factor itself linked with differential rates of cancer screening. We used Maryland Medicaid administrative claims data (2010-2018) to examine screening rates for cervical cancer (N = 40,622), breast cancer (N = 9818), colorectal cancer (N = 19,306), and prostate cancer (N = 4887) among eligible Black and white enrollees with SMI. We examined individual-level socio-demographic and clinical factors, including co-occurring substance use disorder, medical comorbidities, psychiatric diagnosis, obstetric-gynecologic and primary care utilization, as well as county-level characteristics, including metropolitan status, mean household income, and primary care workforce capacity. Generalized estimating equations with a logit link were used to examine the characteristics associated with cancer screening. Compared with white enrollees, Black enrollees were more likely to receive screening for cervical cancer (AOR: 1.18; 95% CI: 1.15-1.22), breast cancer (AOR: 1.27; 95% CI: 1.19-1.36), and colorectal cancer (AOR: 1.07; 95% CI: 1.02-1.13), while similar rates were observed for prostate cancer screening (AOR: 1.06; 95% CI: 0.96-1.18). Primary care utilization and longer Medicaid enrollment were positively associated with cancer screening while co-occurring substance use disorder was negatively associated with cancer screening.”

According to the news reporters, the research concluded: “Improving cancer screening rates among populations with SMI should focus on facilitating continuous insurance coverage and access to primary care.”

This research has been peer-reviewed.

For more information on this research see: Predictors of Cancer Screening Among Black and White Maryland Medicaid Enrollees With Serious Mental Illness. Psycho-Oncology, 2021. Psycho-Oncology can be contacted at: Wiley, 111 River St, Hoboken 07030-5774, NJ, USA. (Wiley-Blackwell - http://www.wiley.com/; Psycho-Oncology - http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1002/(ISSN)1099-1611)

Our news correspondents report that additional information may be obtained by contacting Alene Kennedy-Hendricks, Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg Sch Publ Hlth, Dept. of Health Policy and Management, 624 N Broadway, Room 488, Baltimore, MD 21205, United States. Additional authors for this research include Karly A. Murphy, Gail L. Daumit, Emma E. McGinty and Elizabeth M. Stone.

The direct object identifier (DOI) for that additional information is: https://doi.org/10.1002/pon.5815. 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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