Family Physicians Expedite Diagnosis of Breast Disease in Urban Minority Women

Article Figures & Data

Table 1.

Patient Characteristics (total N = 546)

Characteristics	N^*	%
Age
<40	169	31.0
40–49	168	30.8
50–64	150	27.5
≥65	59	10.8
Race/ethnicity
Black	256	47.5
Hispanic	187	34.7
White	26	4.8
Other	70	13.0
Insurance
Uninsured	228	42.1
Medicaid	160	29.5
Medicare	73	13.5
Private	81	14.9
Primary care physician
FM	54	9.9
IM	174	31.9
OB-GYN	106	19.4
Other/none	212	38.8
Employment
Employed^†	143	27.7
Unemployed	373	72.3
Marital status
Single	306	57.4
Married	97	18.2
Previously married^‡	130	24.4
Smoking status
Never	243	61.7
Current	103	26.1
Former	48	12.2
Personal history of breast cancer
No	529	96.9
Yes	17	3.1
Family history of breast cancer
No	405	76.6
Yes	124	23.4
Patient felt lump
No	267	48.9
Yes	279	51.1
Clinician felt lump
No	197	36.1
Yes	349	63.9
Pathology result
Benign	430	78.8
Cancer	116	21.2

Table 2.

Distribution of Diagnostic Intervals for Predictor Variables by Median Days and for a Percentage Greater Than 60 Days

Characteristics	Diagnostic Interval
Characteristics	Median days (interquartile range)	P Value^*	Percentage of >60 days	P Value^†
Age categories
<40	31.0 (18–57)		23.6
40–49	36.0 (22–64)	.501	25.5	.712
50–64	39.5 (17–66)		29.3
≥65	35.0 (22–62)		25.9
Race/ethnicity
Black	35.0 (18–66)		28.5
Hispanic	35.5 (22–57)	.797	21.7	.270
White	38.0 (10–72)		36.0
Other	41.0 (23–62)		24.6
Insurance
Uninsured	38.0 (24–64)		26.8
Medicaid	31.0 (16–78)	.002	31.2	.003
Medicare	36.0 (23–68)		30.6
Private	27.0 (13–45)		9.2
Primary care physician
FM	23.0 (15–43)		10.0
IM	35.0 (19–59)	.003	22.8	.014
OB-GYN	45.0 (22–72)		30.5
Other/none	35.5 (22–69)		30.4
Marital status
Married	38.0 (23–59)		24.5
Previously married^‡	36.0 (23–63)	.673	26.9	.917
Single	35.0 (18–64)		25.8
Employment status
Employed^§	36.0 (19–58)	.364	21.2	.063^**
Unemployed	37.0 (21–65)		28.4
Smoking status
Current	35.0 (15–63)	.894	25.5	.643
Former	31.0 (21–56)		19.1
Never	35.0 (19–57)		21.8
Personal history of breast cancer
No	36.0 (20–63)	.692	26.0	.578^**
Yes	26.0 (15–136)		26.7
Family history of breast cancer
No	36.0 (21–59)	.667	24.6	.118^**
Yes	36.0 (17–67)		30.6
Patient felt lump
No	42.0 (26–66)	<.001	29.8	.030^**
Yes	28.0 (14–56)		22.3
Clinician felt lump
No	42.5 (24–65)	.001	29.7	.091^**
Yes	32.0 (16–58)		24.0
Pathology result
Benign	39.0 (24–66)	<.001	29.5	<.001^**
Cancer	20.0 (7–44)		13.3

Table 3.

Multivariate Predictors of Delay to Diagnosis after an Abnormal Mammogram

* ORs and 95% CI for diagnostic interval >60 days adjusted for age, race/ethnicity, insurance, primary care physician, employment status, patient felt lump, and pathology result using multivariate logistic regression.
† OR represents change in odds of diagnostic interval >60 days per year of increasing age.