The impact of race and insurance status on survival of patients with non-small cell lung cancer.

Abstract

e18064 Background: Previous studies have demonstrated disparities in survival outcomes between black and white patients with lung cancer. Black patients are more likely than white patients to have no health insurance or insufficient coverage which may limit their access to treatment. The purpose of this study was to determine the impact of race and insurance status of patients with non-small cell lung cancer on survival outcomes at our institution. Methods: Our study included patients diagnosed and treated for non-small cell lung cancer from 2005 through 2015 at University of Florida hospital in Jacksonville. Cox proportional hazard models were used to study the effect of race (black vs white), insurance, age, tobacco use, family history of cancer and stage on hazard rates for mortality. Time to treatment was compared between blacks and whites using the non-parametric Wilcoxon rank sum test. Results: Of the 1301 patients in our study, 445 (34%) were black. More black patients had Medicaid (24% vs 18%, p = 0.01), and were diagnosed at stage III or IV (81% vs 75%, p = 0.01) compared to white patients. Black patients had higher death rates compared to white patients (80% vs. 71%, p < .0004). Adjusting for stage and insurance, black patients had higher hazard rates for mortality than white patients (HR = 1.18, 95%CI 1.03, 1.35, p = 0.02). Patients with Medicaid and Medicare without supplement had higher hazard rates for mortality compared to other insurance categories (Table). There was no significant difference in time to treatment amongst patients of different races (p = 0.38) and insurance types (p = 0.54). Conclusions: Our study reveals worse survival outcomes in black patients compared to white patients with non-small cell lung cancer, controlling for insurance status and stage at presentation. Future research is needed to determine whether other factors may explain these racial disparities. [Table: see text]