Oncology Case Cancelations Are More Common in Black Patients

Background: The rate of surgical delays and case cancelations may be different in various racial and ethnic groups. Previous data have shown that black patients may have greater cancelation rates than other ethnic groups. Objective: To compare the cancelation rates for oncologic surgery among different ethnic and racial groups, with the hypothesis that minority groups had higher rates of delayed or cancelled surgery. Design: Single-center retrospective review. Methods: Oncologic cases from 1 tertiary care center in the United States were included. The variable studied was patient-reported race and ethnicity. The principal outcome was case cancelation prior to or on the date of surgery. The effects of the covariates on case cancelation was estimated using multivariate regression analysis. Results: 109,400 surgical oncology cases were included in the analysis, with a median age of 60 years and 55.9% female. The cancelation rate overall was 4.45%. The highest rate was 15.04% for head an more...