Association between travel burden and surgical timeliness for women with breast cancer in Georgia.

INTRODUCTION

This study evaluates associations between patient distance traveled to surgical care and receipt of timely breast cancer surgery in Georgia.

METHODS

This retrospective cohort study included electronic health record data from women diagnosed with stage I-III breast cancer from 2004 to 2020 who received upfront surgery. Race was self-reported. Distance from patient home address to surgical treatment facility was measured as crow-fly distance. Multivariable logistic regression models estimated associations between time to surgery, race, and distance.

RESULTS

Of 18,240 patients (White ​= ​61 ​% and Black ​= ​39 ​%) with a median distance to surgery of 11.4 miles (IQR: 5.9, 19.6), Black patients had approximately half the odds of receiving surgery within the recommended 60 days of diagnosis (OR: 0.52, 95 ​% CI: 0.47-0.56). Distance traveled was not associated with time to surgery.

CONCLUSION

Understanding mechanisms driving surgical care delays and their effects on breast cancer outcomes is critical to reducing inequities in breast cancer care.