Disparities in cancer care utilization in patients with brain tumors: A nationwide analysis.

Abstract

e23142 Background: Brain tumors are highly aggressive and are associated with poor prognosis. Minority populations still experience inequities in the delivery of cancer care, despite concerted efforts to reduce such disparities. We studied disparities in receipt of cancer care for patients with primary brain tumor. Methods: National Inpatient Sample 2017-2020 was queried to identify the patients admitted with brain tumor. Results of the study were reported in accordance with the STROBE guidelines. We divided the cases into two groups i.e., the patients undergoing curative cancer care (CC) and palliative care (PC). We performed descriptive analysis and analyzed predictors of getting PC or CC using logistic regression analysis. Results: Among 144,355 patients hospitalized for primary brain tumor, 33,645 (23.3%) received PC. Mean age of PC group was 60±20.1 years, while the CC group had mean age of 52.9±21.3 years ( P < 0.01). Compared to patients < 45 years, the patients with age 46-64 years and ≥65 years were more likely to receive PC (OR = 1.9, 95% CI 1.6-2.4 and OR = 2.23, 95% CI 1.8-2.8, P < 0.01, respectively). The proportion of Black patients in the PC group was more compared to the CC group (10.4% vs 7.6%). However, the proportion of White patients in the PC group was lower than the CC group (74.8% vs 77.9%), P < 0.001. Black patients were more likely to receive PC (OR = 1.5, 95% CI 1.3-1.7, p < 0.01), while no difference was observed in other ethnic or racial groups. Compared to CC group, PC group had a higher percentage of patients with Medicare (50.9% vs 35.9%), Medicaid (14.4% vs 13.8%) and a lower percentage of patients with private insurance (31.9% vs 47.0%) p < 0.01. Patients with private insurance were less likely to receive PC (OR = 0.7, 95% CI 0.6-0.8, p < 0.01). PC group had a higher percentage of low-income group patients compared to the CC group ($1-$49,999: 22.5% vs 20.6% and $50,000-$64,999: 25.3% vs 24.2%, P < 0.01). Patients in teaching hospitals had decreased odds of PC (OR 0.8, 95% CI 0.7-0.9, P = 0.01) compared to non-teaching hospitals. Patients with major depressive disorder (OR 1.3, 95% CI 1.1-1.4, P < 0.01), electrolyte disorders (OR 1.6, 95% CI 1.5-1.8, P < 0.01), and atrial fibrillation (OR 1.3, 95% CI 1.1-1.5, P = 0.01) had increased odds of receiving PC. Conclusions: The patients who underwent PC were older, more likely to be Black, and of low-income groups. Patients in teaching hospital had a decreased likelihood of undergoing PC. The health care disparities should be addressed to achieve a better quality of care across all groups. [Table: see text]