Developing an Instrument to Measure Socioeconomic Disparities in Quality of Care for Men with Early-Stage Prostate Cancer.

摘要

Patients with early stage prostate cancer have excellent cause specific survival after definitive local therapy with radiation therapy or radical prostatectomy. However, regardless of race, men of lower socioeconomic status are less likely to receive definitive local therapy for early stage disease, and when such treatment is administered, they are more likely to die of their cancer. Men of lower socioeconomic status are also more likely to have treatment related complications after prostate cancer treatment. This suggests that disparities in treatment, rather than prostate cancer screening, may play a causative role in observed differences. Hypothesis: Socioeconomic disparities in prostate cancer survival are associated with distinct differences in quality of care. These distinct patterns can be identified and measured using standard medical diagnosis and treatment codes. Specific Aims: 1. To identify socioeconomic disparities in outcomes after treatment for localized prostate cancer. 2. To identify socioeconomic disparities in quality of care for localized prostate cancer. 3. To develop a tool to measure disparities in quality of care for localized prostate cancer.