Underpriveleged Patients Not as Likely to Be Referred to Specialty Hospitals for Brain Tumors

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/03/100315161724.htm

ScienceDaily (Mar. 17, 2010) — African-American, Hispanic, and economically disadvantaged patients with brain tumors are significantly less likely to be referred to high-volume hospitals that specialize in neurosurgery than other patients of similar age, the same gender, and with similar comorbidities, according to new research by Johns Hopkins doctors.

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Researchers have long known that patients who receive treatment for specialized procedures at hospitals that perform more of those procedures usually have better outcomes than patients who are treated at lower-volume hospitals. Consequently, in recent years, more patients have been shuttled to these high-volume hospitals than ever before. However, the new study's findings suggest that, for brain tumors, referrals are skewed to favor white, high-income patients.

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Over the entire study period, Hispanic patients were about 30 percent less likely to be seen at high-volume centers, though there was no significant difference between African-American and white patients. However, when the researchers looked at yearly figures, they found a steady decline over time in the odds that African-American and Hispanic patients would be admitted to high-volume centers. In the last five years of the study, African-Americans were a third less likely to be admitted to these specialty centers, and Hispanics were half as likely as white counterparts.

The researchers found similar disparities among low-income patients, with those under the poverty line 43 percent less likely to be admitted as those making $60,000 per year or more.

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