A. C. Alapati1, L. A. Riba1, R. B. Davis2, T. A. James1 1Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center,Surgery,Boston, MA, USA 2Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center,Medicine,Boston, MA, USA
Introduction: The National Accreditation Program for Breast Centers (NAPBC) is dedicated to the improvement of quality of care for patients with breast disease. Geographical distribution of healthcare resources is an important dimension of quality. Little has been published about breast center allocation patterns with respect to demand and impact on population health outcomes. The purpose of this study is to analyze incidence and mortality rates of breast cancer in relation to NAPBC distribution in the US.
Methods: The incidence and mortality rates of breast cancer per state in 2014 were retrieved from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. We determined the number of NAPBC centers in each state per 1000 cases of breast cancer. Data were analyzed by spearman (non-parametric) correlation.
Results:The total number of NAPBC centers is 570. Across the US there is an average of 2.8 centers/1000 cases of breast cancer; standard deviation 1.9, range from 0 to 8.7. A positive correlation (r = 0.45) exists between breast cancer incidence and the number of centers (p=0.0009). The correlation between mortality and centers/1000 cases is weakly negative (r=-0.20), (p=0.16).
Conclusion:Our study demonstrates that NAPBC centers are adequately distributed according to breast cancer incidence in the US. However, the presence of NAPBC centers did not impact mortality rates. Additional strategies are warranted to control population mortality rates for breast cancer.
