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Hospital volume differences and five-year survival from breast cancer
P J Roohan1, N A Bickell, M S Baptiste
1New York State Department of Health, Albany, USA.
American Journal of Public Health
|March 31, 1998
Summary
Women with breast cancer treated at high-volume hospitals have better long-term survival. Lower hospital volume significantly increases the risk of mortality for breast cancer patients.
Area of Science:
- Oncology
- Health Services Research
Background:
- Hospital volume is a potential indicator of quality of care for complex surgical procedures.
- Understanding the impact of hospital volume on breast cancer outcomes is crucial for patient care and resource allocation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the association between hospital volume of breast cancer surgical cases and long-term patient survival.
- To determine if higher hospital volumes correlate with improved 5-year survival rates for breast cancer patients.
Main Methods:
- Survival analysis techniques were employed to evaluate patient outcomes.
- Proportional-hazard modeling was utilized to assess the risk of mortality, controlling for key clinical and sociodemographic factors.
Main Results:
- Patients treated at very low-volume hospitals faced a 60% higher risk of all-cause mortality at 5 years compared to those at high-volume hospitals.
- A significant positive correlation was observed between hospital surgical case volume and 5-year survival for breast cancer patients.
Conclusions:
- Hospital volume for breast cancer surgery demonstrably impacts 5-year survival rates.
- Further research is warranted to explore the role of specific care processes, particularly post-surgical adjuvant therapies, in explaining survival disparities.