Document Type
Article
Publication Date
7-5-2022
Abstract
Socioeconomic disparities remain prevalent among those who undergo breast reconstruction. At our institution, patients must meet certain criteria to become eligible for breast reconstruction. The purpose of this study was to determine the impact of socioeconomic factors on breast reconstruction eligibility, enrollment, choice, and completion at our large safety-net institution.
Methods: A retrospective chart review of patients who underwent partial or total mastectomy at a large safety-net hospital from 2016 to 2019 was completed. Surgical and demographic data were compared across varying socioeconomic factors.
Results: A total of 645 patients were included in the study. More patients of a racial minority had government-based insurance than White patients (89% versus 81%;
Conclusions: Barriers remain for socioeconomically disadvantaged patients to be eligible for, undergo, and complete breast reconstruction. Obesity, diabetes, smoking, and poor overall health were identified as the main barriers and were associated with racial minorities, government-based insurance, and lower incomes. Concerted effort through multidisciplinary teams is needed to maximize eligibility of socioeconomically disadvantaged breast cancer patients for reconstruction.
Recommended Citation
Meade, Anna E; Cummins, Samantha M; Farewell, Jordyn T; Duque, Sofia; Mulqueen, Sydney K; Chuah, Ashleigh; and Zhang, Andrew Y, "Breaking Barriers to Breast Reconstruction among Socioeconomically Disadvantaged Patients at a Large Safety-net Hospital" (2022). Department of Medicine Faculty Papers. Paper 364.
https://jdc.jefferson.edu/medfp/364
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
PubMed ID
35813106
Language
English
Comments
This article is the author's final published version in Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery - Global Open, Volume 10, Issue 7, July 2022, Pages E4410.
The published version is available at https://doi.org/10.1097/GOX.0000000000004410.
Copyright © 2022 The Authors. Published by Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. on behalf of The American Society of Plastic Surgeons.
This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives License 4.0 (CCBY-NC-ND), where it is permissible to download and share the work provided it is properly cited. The work cannot be changed in any way or used commercially without permission from the journal.