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An overview of disparities research in access to radiation oncology care

  • Original Research
  • Published:
Journal of Radiation Oncology

Abstract

Introduction

In the twenty-first century, the field of radiation oncology has markedly increased its role in patient care. Consequently, any disparity in access to radiation oncology treatment may prove more deleterious than at any time in the past. We performed the following review of published series to assess the pervasiveness of health disparities in access to radiation oncology treatment.

Methods

A comprehensive literature search was performed using the Entrez gateway of the PubMed database to examine studies investigating health disparities (racial, gender-based, socioeconomic, language-based) in radiation oncology treatment in the USA.

Results

A total of 170 studies were found, of which 58 met inclusion criteria spanning more than 10 organ systems. Health disparities were most prominently studied in cancers of the prostate (16 studies), breast (14 studies), gynecologic system (8 studies), and lung (5 studies). Forty-one studies were published since the start of 2014, with 14 % of studies (8/58) published prior to 2010. Unfortunately, disparities in access to radiotherapy were prevalent in treatment of cancer across several organ systems. The most common disparities found were racial and socioeconomic in nature.

Conclusions

Disparities in radiotherapy access remain pervasive throughout radiation oncology regardless of the organ system treated and are usually related to patient race and/or insurance status. Health disparities research in radiation oncology is relatively new; more than 70 % of studies have been published since the beginning of 2014. Vigilance remains required in combating this issue, as is further research into relatively unexplored organ systems to optimally assess the degree of health disparities in radiation oncology.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Radiation Medicine, Oregon Health and Science University, 3181 SW Sam Jackson Park Rd, L337, Portland, OR, 97239-3098, USA

    Shearwood McClelland III, Charles R Thomas Jr & Jerry J Jaboin

  2. Department of Radiation Oncology and Molecular Radiation Sciences, The Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, MD, USA

    Curtiland Deville

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  1. Shearwood McClelland III
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  2. Curtiland Deville
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Correspondence to Shearwood McClelland III.

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McClelland, S., Deville, C., Thomas, C.R. et al. An overview of disparities research in access to radiation oncology care. J Radiat Oncol 5, 437–444 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13566-016-0284-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13566-016-0284-1

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