Delays in cancer diagnosis in underinsured young adults and older adolescents
Martin S, Ulrich C, Munsell M, et al. Delays in cancer diagnosis in underinsured young adults and older adolescents. Oncologist. 2007 Jul;12(7):816-24. PMID: 17673613
An important study with evidence that young people in the U.S. are likely to have a delay in cancer diagnosis because of inadequate health insurance, with consequent presentation of advanced stages of disease. From the introduction:
"Despite the advances in cancer diagnosis and treatment, older adolescents and young adults with cancer in the U.S., especially those in the 20–39 years age group, have not experienced the same survival prolongation or mortality reduction as their older and younger counterparts. Reasons for the failure to improve survival in this cohort may be related to delays in diagnosis, which are known to occur more frequently in cancer patients in this age group than in others. Also, the 18–24 years age group is both the most underinsured in the U.S. as well as the least likely to access health care, and the 25–34 years age group is the next most uninsured age group. The hypothesis of this study, therefore, was that a lack of health insurance is associated with delay in diagnosis in this age group."
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oncology cancer brain and spinal cord cancers hodgkin disease leukemia lymphoma thyroid cancer
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