Search

Objective: To examine factors influencing time from screening to final diagnosis among multicultural women with abnormal mammograms using the precede-proceed model., Methods: Staff of 58 clinics and a sample of 436 women served by these clinics were interviewed and their medical records examined., Results: Longer duration from screening to diagnosis was associated with speaking Spanish and having clinic staff make appointments. Ease of access to health care, provision of early morning screening services and higher levels of patient anxiety shortened the time to diagnosis., Conclusion: The precede-proceed model is useful in delineating personal and structural factors that affect timely diagnosis.

Objective: Our aim was to estimate the direct and indirect costs of gynecologic cancers including cervical, ovarian, and uterine cancer in California in 1998., Methods: Hospitalization costs, including costs of primary and secondary diagnoses of each of the gynecologic cancers, are derived from the California Patient Discharge dataset. Charges are converted to costs using hospital-specific cost-to-charge ratios and an imputed cost for HMO hospitalizations. Other direct medical costs are derived from the 1997 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey. Indirect mortality costs are the product of the number of deaths and the expected value of a female's future earnings, including an imputed value of housekeeping services., Results: The total cost of the three gynecologic cancers in California is estimated at $624 million for 1998. Indirect costs or losses in productivity due to premature death are twice the direct medical care costs. Hospitalization inpatient costs account for more than half of total direct costs for each of these cancers. Total costs for ovarian cancer are highest among the three cancers., Conclusions: The estimates presented here highlight the need for studies that identify cost-effective screening methods and the relationship between treatment protocols and outcomes. The methods presented here could be used to develop stage- or treatment-specific costs that would be useful for such analyses. Only through early detection and more effective management of gynecologic cancers can there be a reduction in the morbidity, premature death, and high costs of cervical, ovarian, and uterine cancers.

Background: Prostate cancer is the most common malignancy diagnosed among men in the United States. This article reviews previous studies of the annual cost of all cancers and of prostate cancer in the United States and California and estimates the direct and indirect costs of prostate cancer in California in 1998., Methods: Hospitalization costs, including costs of primary and secondary diagnoses of prostate cancer, were derived from the California Hospital Discharge data set (CHDS). Charges were converted to costs using hospital specific cost-to-charge ratios and an imputed cost for Health Maintenance Organization hospitalizations. Other direct medical costs were derived from the 1997 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey. Indirect mortality costs are the product of the number of deaths and the expected value of a male's future earnings taking into account age at death, earning patterns at successive ages, labor force participation, imputed value of housekeeping services, and a 3% discount rate., Results: Prostate cancer direct health care costs in California were estimated at 180 million dollars, and lost productivity from premature death was estimated at 180 million dollars, for a total cost of 360 million dollars in 1998. The disease is largely one of older men; hospitalization costs account for three-fifths of total direct costs, and Medicare and private health insurance share almost equally in paying for hospital care., Conclusions: It is critical to identify cost-effective screening efforts that permit early detection of prostate cancer to reduce illness, premature deaths, and the high costs of prostate cancer., (Copyright 2002 American Cancer Society.)

Objectives: To examine access to and use of HIV highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) by race/ethnicity in Medicaid and the AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP) in 1998 in four states., Methods: The authors analyzed reimbursement claims and AIDS surveillance data in California, Florida, New York, and Texas. Study subjects were identified using diagnostic or medication codes specific to HIV. The race/ethnicity of program enrollees was compared to representation in the HIV epidemic to examine access. Claims for antiretroviral (ARV) use were compared to U.S. Public Health Service treatment guidelines to assess HAART use., Results: The authors identified 151,000 HIV-infected individuals in these two programs in the four states. Evidence of AIDS or symptomatic HIV was present in 78%-88% of enrollees in Medicaid, versus 31%-48% in ADAP. African Americans participated in Medicaid 10%-53% above and in ADAP 17%-31% below representation in the epidemic. Non-Latino whites exhibited the opposite pattern, being in Medicaid 5%-38% below and in ADAP 9%-65% above epidemic representation. Latinos participated more in ADAP (7%-31%), except in New York. HAART use over 90 days (July-September) ranged from 38% to 76% by program and state. Differences by race/ethnicity were inconsistent and small: African Americans had lower HAART use by 6%-14% in California and Florida Medicaid, and Latinos had higher HAART use by 2%-11% in ADAP and in Texas Medicaid., Conclusions: African Americans were more likely to access HIV drugs through Medicaid than through ADAP, which may reflect differences in program eligibility criteria as well as care seeking later in HIV disease. Differences in the use of HAART by race/ethnicity within state programs were small.