Disparities in healthcare continue to be evident among minorities. The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality has compiled a listing of AHRQ-supported research, studies and findings published between 2008 and 2012 that examine the care inequality.
Here are 6 findings on healthcare disparities for minorities.
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1. For female breast cancer patients between 65 and 69 years old, 66 percent of white females receive chemotherapy within six months of diagnosis, compared to 56 percent of black females.
2. Implementing a tracking system reduces disparities in receiving treatment for breast cancer, especially for minority women. One study found after implementing the tracking system, underuse of radiotherapy declined from 23 percent to 10 percent, underuse of chemotherapy declined from 26 percent to 6 percent and underuse of hormone therapy declined from 27 percent to 11 percent for black and Hispanic women.
3. The prostate cancer mortality rate for black men is nearly twice the rate for white men.
4. Black patients have a higher rate of tumors growing on the pituitary gland (4.4 cases per 100,000 patients) than other ethnic groups, such as American Indians and Alaska Natives (1.9 cases per 100,000 patients).
5. Black patients with stage III or IV nonsmall-cell lung cancer have a 24 percent greater chance of dying than white patients.
6. Black patients who receive a heart transplant have a 34 percent higher transplant-related risk of death than white patients who receive a heart transplant. The rates of transplant-related death of other minority patients were similar to that of white patients.
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