Influence of Race, Income, Insurance, and Education on the Rate of Breast Reconstruction

• Published in: Anticancer research 2019-06, Vol.39 (6), p.2969-2973
• Main Authors: Restrepo, David J, Boczar, Daniel, Huayllani, Maria T, Sisti, Andrea, Gabriel, Emmanuel, McLaughlin, Sarah A, Bagaria, Sanjay, Spaulding, Aaron C, Rinker, Brian D, Forte, Antonio J
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Aged; Breast; Breast Neoplasms - ethnology; Breast Neoplasms - surgery; Demographics; Education; Ethnic Groups - statistics & numerical data; Female; Health Education; Humans; Income; Insurance; Logistic Models; Mammaplasty - statistics & numerical data; Mastectomy; Middle Aged; Odds Ratio; Race; Reconstruction; Regression analysis; Socioeconomic Factors
• ISSN: 0250-7005; 1791-7530
• DOI: 10.21873/anticanres.13428

The aim of this study was to analyze how race, income, insurance, and education, affect breast reconstruction rates. We reviewed the National Cancer Database. χ test and binary logistic regression were used to analyze the association between demographic characteristics and reconstruction rate. White race and private insurance were associated with a higher risk of getting reconstruction when compared to black race (odd ratio [OR]=0.939; 95%CI=0.909-0.970) and government insurance (OR=0.459; 95%CI=0.447-0.471). Patients with an estimated income >$63,000 were found to have higher odds of receiving breast reconstruction than patients with income less than $38,000 (OR=1.868; 95%CI=1.792-1.948). Patients who live in a zip code area with a higher education average have higher odds of receiving postmastectomy breast reconstruction than patients living in a zip code with a lower education average (OR=1.152, 95%CI=1.104-1.203). Differences in reconstruction rates exist based on race, income, insurance, and education level.