Geographic disparities in breast cancer mortality and place of death in the United States from 2003 to 2019.

Abstract

12034 Background: Breast cancer is the 2nd leading cause of cancer-related death in women with existing barriers in preventive services, access to treatment, and end-of-life care. There are unique sociopolitical challenges to rural healthcare with gaps in national health funding and hospice infrastructure. We investigated rural-urban disparities in age-adjusted mortality rates (AAMRs) and place of death in individuals dying from breast cancer. Methods: CDC WONDER database was utilized to analyze deaths from breast cancer from 2003 to 2019 using population classification per 2013 US Census: large metropolitan (≥1 million), small- or medium-sized metropolitan (50,000-999,999), and rural areas (< 50,000). We extracted AAMRs by geographic area, age, and race/ethnicity. We estimated annual percentage changes (APC) in AAMR using robust linear regression models of the log-scale AAMR, including population size as weights, and assessed differential changes over time by geographic area with interaction tests. We estimated the percent of all deaths occurring in medical, hospice, and nursing facilities, and home. Odds ratios (OR) for the association between each place of death and individual-level characteristics were calculated using logistic regression, adjusting for year of death. Differential changes in place of death over time by geographic region were assessed with interaction tests. Results: From 2003 to 2019, there were 676,532 breast cancer-related deaths (52.9% large metro, medium/small metro 30.3%, rural 16.8%). Total AAMR declined from 39.8 to 30.9 during this period with rural areas noting least improvement (APC -1.24, 95% CI [-1.39, -1.09], p < 0.001 for time trend) compared to large metropolitan (APC -1.74, 95% CI [-1.63, -1.46]). Non-Hispanic Black women had higher AAMRs among all racial/ethnic groups. Across all years, women in large metropolitan (OR 2.02, 95% CI [1.96, 2.07]) and medium/small metropolitan (OR 2.19, 95% CI [2.12, 2.25]) had higher odds of dying in a hospice facility compared to rural areas. Rural women died least often in a hospice facility (9.7% vs 14.5% large metropolitan vs 16.9% medium/small metropolitan in 2019), more often in a nursing facility (19.2% vs 12% large metropolitan vs 13.9% medium/small metropolitan) and slightly more often at home (44.6% vs 41.7% large metropolitan vs 43.4% medium/small metropolitan). Women in large metropolitan areas were most likely to die in a medical facility. Conclusions: Rural women with breast cancer experienced greater mortality and least annual improvement, with notable disparities in place of death. Our findings support interventions to improve access across cancer care continuum and congressional policy to urgently re-invest in cancer care access in rural areas.