Abstract 2025: Racial differences in lung cancer patient experiences with medical care and their association with cancer mortality: A SEER-CAHPS study
Authors: Chan Emily , David Elizabeth A. , Eguchi Megan , Cockburn Myles , Farias Albert J. 
Published: September 2020

INTRODUCTION: Racial disparities in lung cancer mortality may be impacted by differences in patient experiences with care, an important quality of cancer care indicator. Therefore, the objectives of our study are to examine whether there are racial disparities in patient experiences with care among lung cancer patients and to determine whether these disparities are associated with mortality.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: We used data from the National Cancer Institute's Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results-Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (SEER-CAHPS®) that links SEER cancer registry data with CAHPS surveys of Medicare beneficiaries. We identified individuals ≥65 years old who were diagnosed with lung cancer and completed a CAHPS survey at least six months after cancer diagnosis. We examined composite scores (through three domains of patient-centeredness, timeliness, and realized access) and global ratings of care. We conducted multivariable linear regression models to assess the association between race and patient composite and global ratings of care. Multivariable Cox proportional hazards models were used to determine the association between patient composite and global ratings and mortality after cancer diagnosis.

RESULTS: This study consisted of 2,603 lung cancer patients. For black patients, a 1-unit increase in their ability to get all needed care (HR: 0.99, 95% CI 0.98-0.99) and care coordination (0.97, 0.94-0.99) was associated with lower risk of mortality. For Hispanic (0.85, 0.74-0.99), Asian (0.75, 0.61-0.92) and white (0.94, 0.88-0.99) patients, a 1-unit increase in their rating of their specialist was associated with lower risk of mortality. Asians reported lower adjusted mean scores with their ability to get care quickly (B: -4.25, 95% CI: -8.19, -0.31), get needed care (-7.06, (-10.51, -3.61)), get needed drugs (-9.06, (-13.04, -5.08)), and rating of their overall health care (-0.39 (-0.68, -0.1)) compared to non-Hispanic white patients. Similarly, Hispanics reported lower adjusted mean score with their ability to get needed care (-5.21, (-9.03, -1.39)). We did not observe differences in patient experiences with care for black patients compared to those of white patients.

CONCLUSION: There are racial disparities in patient experiences of care among Medicare lung cancer patients, and these disparities contribute to lung cancer mortality in different ways. More research is needed to determine how medical care experiences in lung cancer patients can influence receipt of patient care and reduce risk of lung cancer mortality.

Citation Format: Emily Chan, Elizabeth A. David, Megan Eguchi, Myles Cockburn, Albert J. Farias. Racial differences in lung cancer patient experiences with medical care and their association with cancer mortality: A SEER-CAHPS study [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research 2020; 2020 Apr 27-28 and Jun 22-24. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2020;80(16 Suppl):Abstract nr 2025.