title: Determinants of breast cancer treatment delay differ for African American and White women.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Timeliness of care may contribute to racial disparities in breast cancer mortality. African American women experience greater treatment delay than White women in most, but not all studies. Understanding these disparities is challenging as many studies lack patient-reported data and use administrative data sources that collect limited types of information. We used interview and medical record data from the Carolina Breast Cancer Study (CBCS) to identify determinants of delay and assess whether disparities exist between White and African American women (n = 601).
  
  
  METHODS
  The CBCS is a population-based study of North Carolina women. We investigated the association of demographic and socioeconomic characteristics, healthcare access, clinical factors, and measures of emotional and functional well-being with treatment delay. The association of race and selected characteristics with delays of more than 30 days was assessed using logistic regression.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Household size, losing a job due to one's diagnosis, and immediate reconstruction were associated with delay in the overall population and among White women. Immediate reconstruction and treatment type were associated with delay among African American women. Racial disparities in treatment delay were not evident in the overall population. In the adjusted models, African American women experienced greater delay than White women for younger age groups: OR, 3.34; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.07-10.38 for ages 20 to 39 years, and OR, 3.40; 95% CI, 1.76-6.54 for ages 40 to 49 years.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Determinants of treatment delay vary by race. Racial disparities in treatment delay exist among women younger than 50 years.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Specific populations need to be targeted when identifying and addressing determinants of treatment delay.
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA. Sasha.McGee@alumni.unc.edu
authors.forename: Sasha A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: McGee
authors.forename: Danielle D
authors.initials: DD
authors.lastname: Durham
authors.forename: Chiu-Kit
authors.initials: CK
authors.lastname: Tse
authors.forename: Robert C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Millikan
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D000368:Aged; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000628:therapy*; D005260:Female; D054625:Healthcare Disparities / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D009657:North Carolina / Q000453:epidemiology; D012307:Risk Factors; D013997:Time Factors; D044465:White People / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D055815:Young Adult