TY - JOUR

T1 - Educational differences in healthcare use among survivors after breast, prostate, lung, and colon cancer – a SEQUEL cohort study

AU - Levinsen, Anne Katrine Graudal

AU - Kjaer, Trille Kristina

AU - Maltesen, Thomas

AU - Jakobsen, Erik

AU - Gögenur, Ismail

AU - Borre, Michael

AU - Christiansen, Peer

AU - Zachariae, Robert

AU - Laurberg, Søren

AU - Christensen, Peter

AU - Kroman, Niels

AU - Larsen, Signe Benzon

AU - Degett, Thea Helene

AU - Hölmich, Lisbet Rosenkrantz

AU - Brown, Peter de Nully

AU - Johansen, Christoffer

AU - Kjær, Susanne K.

AU - Thygesen, Lau Caspar

AU - Dalton, Susanne Oksbjerg

N1 - Funding Information: We thank the Danish National Clinical Quality Cancer Databases for access to their data: the Danish Breast Cancer Cooperative Group Database, the Danish Prostate Cancer Database, the Danish Lung Cancer Registry, and the Danish Colorectal Cancer Group Database. Funding Information: This research was funded by the Novo Nordisk Foundation (number NNF18OC0052543), the Danish Cancer Society Scientific Committee (number R269-A15811) and Helsefonden (number 20-B-0434). Publisher Copyright: © 2023, The Author(s).

PY - 2023

Y1 - 2023

N2 - Background: Many cancer survivors experience late effects after cancer. Comorbidity, health literacy, late effects, and help-seeking behavior may affect healthcare use and may differ among socioeconomic groups. We examined healthcare use among cancer survivors, compared with cancer-free individuals, and investigated educational differences in healthcare use among cancer survivors. Methods: A Danish cohort of 127,472 breast, prostate, lung, and colon cancer survivors from the national cancer databases, and 637,258 age- and sex-matched cancer-free individuals was established. Date of entry was 12 months after diagnosis/index date (for cancer-free individuals). Follow-up ended at death, emigration, new primary cancer, December 31st, 2018, or up to 10 years. Information about education and healthcare use, defined as the number of consultations with general practitioner (GP), private practicing specialists (PPS), hospital, and acute healthcare contacts 1–9 years after diagnosis/index date, was extracted from national registers. We used Poisson regression models to compare healthcare use between cancer survivors and cancer-free individuals, and to investigate the association between education and healthcare use among cancer survivors. Results: Cancer survivors had more GP, hospital, and acute healthcare contacts than cancer-free individuals, while the use of PPS were alike. One-to-four-year survivors with short compared to long education had more GP consultations (breast, rate ratios (RR) = 1.28, 95% CI = 1.25–1.30; prostate, RR = 1.14, 95% CI = 1.10–1.18; lung, RR = 1.18, 95% CI = 1.13–1.23; and colon cancer, RR = 1.17, 95% CI = 1.13–1.22) and acute contacts (breast, RR = 1.35, 95% CI = 1.26–1.45; prostate, RR = 1.26, 95% CI = 1.15–1.38; lung, RR = 1.24, 95% CI = 1.16–1.33; and colon cancer, RR = 1.35, 95% CI = 1.14–1.60), even after adjusting for comorbidity. One-to-four-year survivors with short compared to long education had less consultations with PPS, while no association was observed for hospital contacts. Conclusion: Cancer survivors used more healthcare than cancer-free individuals. Cancer survivors with short education had more GP and acute healthcare contacts than survivors with long education. To optimize healthcare use after cancer, we need to better understand survivors’ healthcare-seeking behaviors and their specific needs, especially among survivors with short education.

AB - Background: Many cancer survivors experience late effects after cancer. Comorbidity, health literacy, late effects, and help-seeking behavior may affect healthcare use and may differ among socioeconomic groups. We examined healthcare use among cancer survivors, compared with cancer-free individuals, and investigated educational differences in healthcare use among cancer survivors. Methods: A Danish cohort of 127,472 breast, prostate, lung, and colon cancer survivors from the national cancer databases, and 637,258 age- and sex-matched cancer-free individuals was established. Date of entry was 12 months after diagnosis/index date (for cancer-free individuals). Follow-up ended at death, emigration, new primary cancer, December 31st, 2018, or up to 10 years. Information about education and healthcare use, defined as the number of consultations with general practitioner (GP), private practicing specialists (PPS), hospital, and acute healthcare contacts 1–9 years after diagnosis/index date, was extracted from national registers. We used Poisson regression models to compare healthcare use between cancer survivors and cancer-free individuals, and to investigate the association between education and healthcare use among cancer survivors. Results: Cancer survivors had more GP, hospital, and acute healthcare contacts than cancer-free individuals, while the use of PPS were alike. One-to-four-year survivors with short compared to long education had more GP consultations (breast, rate ratios (RR) = 1.28, 95% CI = 1.25–1.30; prostate, RR = 1.14, 95% CI = 1.10–1.18; lung, RR = 1.18, 95% CI = 1.13–1.23; and colon cancer, RR = 1.17, 95% CI = 1.13–1.22) and acute contacts (breast, RR = 1.35, 95% CI = 1.26–1.45; prostate, RR = 1.26, 95% CI = 1.15–1.38; lung, RR = 1.24, 95% CI = 1.16–1.33; and colon cancer, RR = 1.35, 95% CI = 1.14–1.60), even after adjusting for comorbidity. One-to-four-year survivors with short compared to long education had less consultations with PPS, while no association was observed for hospital contacts. Conclusion: Cancer survivors used more healthcare than cancer-free individuals. Cancer survivors with short education had more GP and acute healthcare contacts than survivors with long education. To optimize healthcare use after cancer, we need to better understand survivors’ healthcare-seeking behaviors and their specific needs, especially among survivors with short education.

KW - Breast cancer

KW - Colon cancer

KW - Healthcare use

KW - Lung cancer

KW - Prostate cancer

KW - Social inequality

KW - Survivorship

U2 - 10.1186/s12913-023-09683-2

DO - 10.1186/s12913-023-09683-2

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 37349718

AN - SCOPUS:85162737814

VL - 23

JO - BMC Health Services Research

JF - BMC Health Services Research

SN - 1472-6963

IS - 1

M1 - 674

ER -