National Healthcare Quality and Disparities Report
Latest available findings on quality of and access to health care
Data
- Data Infographics
- Data Visualizations
- Data Tools
- Data Innovations
- All-Payer Claims Database
- Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP)
- Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS)
- AHRQ Quality Indicator Tools for Data Analytics
- State Snapshots
- United States Health Information Knowledgebase (USHIK)
- Data Sources Available from AHRQ
Search All Research Studies
Topics
- Access to Care (1)
- Cancer (4)
- Cancer: Breast Cancer (3)
- Cardiovascular Conditions (1)
- Children/Adolescents (1)
- Diagnostic Safety and Quality (2)
- Digestive Disease and Health (1)
- Disabilities (1)
- Disparities (4)
- Emergency Department (1)
- Heart Disease and Health (1)
- Hospitals (1)
- (-) Imaging (7)
- Obesity (1)
- Outcomes (1)
- Prevention (1)
- (-) Racial and Ethnic Minorities (7)
- Screening (3)
- Sex Factors (1)
- Social Determinants of Health (1)
- Urban Health (1)
- Women (4)
AHRQ Research Studies
Sign up: AHRQ Research Studies Email updates
Research Studies is a compilation of published research articles funded by AHRQ or authored by AHRQ researchers.
Results
1 to 7 of 7 Research Studies DisplayedKerlikowske K, Bissell MCS, Sprague BL
Impact of BMI on prevalence of dense breasts by race and ethnicity.
Researchers evaluated differences in body mass index (BMI) in relation to differences in dense breasts prevalence by race/ethnicity. Their results indicated that dense breasts were most prevalent among Asian women followed by non-Hispanic White, Hispanic, and Black women. Clinically important differences in breast density prevalence are present across racial/ethnic groups after accounting for age, menopausal status, and BMI. IMPACT: If breast density is the sole criterion used to notify women of dense breasts and discuss supplemental screening it may result in implementing inequitable screening strategies across racial/ethnic groups.
AHRQ-funded; HS018366.
Citation: Kerlikowske K, Bissell MCS, Sprague BL .
Impact of BMI on prevalence of dense breasts by race and ethnicity.
Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2023 Nov; 32(11):1524-30. doi: 10.1158/1055-9965.Epi-23-0049..
Keywords: Obesity, Women, Racial and Ethnic Minorities, Cancer: Breast Cancer, Cancer, Imaging
Marcaccio CL, Patel PB, de Guerre L
Disparities in 5-year outcomes and imaging surveillance following elective endovascular repair of abdominal aortic aneurysm by sex, race, and ethnicity.
The purpose of this study was to identify variations in 5-year outcomes and imaging surveillance after elective endovascular aortic aneurysm repair (EVAR) by sex, race, and ethnicity and to examine possible mechanisms contributing to these variations. The primary outcome was 5-year aneurysm rupture. Secondary outcomes were 5-year reintervention and mortality, and having no aortic imaging follow-up from 6 to 24 months after EVAR. The study found that among 16,040 patients, 73% were White males, 18% were White females, 2.6% were Black males, 1.1% were Black females, 0.9% were Asian males, 0.2% were Asian females, 1.7% were Hispanic males, and 0.4% were Hispanic females. At 5 years, Black females had the highest rupture rates at 6.4% and white males had the lowest at 2.3%. Compared with White males, rupture rates were higher in White females, Black females, and Asian females. Among other groups, Black males had higher reintervention and both Black and Hispanic males had higher rates of no imaging follow-up. In adjusted analyses, White, Black, and Asian females remained at significantly higher risk for 5-year rupture. The researchers concluded that Black females had higher 5-year aneurysm rupture, reintervention, and mortality rates after elective EVAR as compared with White male patients, whereas White females had higher rupture, mortality and loss-to-imaging-follow-up compared to White male patients. Black males had higher reintervention and no imaging follow-up, and Asian females had higher rupture rates.
AHRQ-funded; HS027285.
Citation: Marcaccio CL, Patel PB, de Guerre L .
Disparities in 5-year outcomes and imaging surveillance following elective endovascular repair of abdominal aortic aneurysm by sex, race, and ethnicity.
J Vasc Surg 2022 Nov;76(5):1205-15.e4. doi: 10.1016/j.jvs.2022.03.886..
Keywords: Disparities, Racial and Ethnic Minorities, Sex Factors, Outcomes, Imaging, Heart Disease and Health, Cardiovascular Conditions
Lee CI, Zhu W, Onega T
Comparative access to and use of digital breast tomosynthesis screening by women's race/ethnicity and socioeconomic status.
This study looked at access to digital breast tomography (DBT) versus regular mammography and whether women of minority race/ethnicity and lower socioeconomic status experienced lower DBT access during the early adoption period and persistently lower DBT use over time. This cross-sectional study included 92 geographically diverse imaging facilities across 5 US states, with over 2.3 million screening examinations performed among women aged 40 to 89 years from January 1, 2011, to December 31, 2017. Data were analyzed from June 2019, to August 2020. Women who used DBT increased for all women from 3.3% in 2011 to 82.6% in 2017. In 2012, Black, Hispanic, Asian American, and women with less than a high school education had lower DBT access compared to White women attending the same facility and also college graduates. Lower DBT access continued over time regardless of the number of years after facility-level DBT adoption.
AHRQ-funded; HS018366.
Citation: Lee CI, Zhu W, Onega T .
Comparative access to and use of digital breast tomosynthesis screening by women's race/ethnicity and socioeconomic status.
JAMA Netw Open 2021 Feb;4(2):e2037546. doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2020.37546..
Keywords: Cancer: Breast Cancer, Cancer, Imaging, Access to Care, Women, Social Determinants of Health, Racial and Ethnic Minorities, Screening
Marin JR, Rodean J, Hall M
Racial and ethnic differences in emergency department diagnostic imaging at US children's hospitals, 2016-2019.
Researchers evaluated racial and ethnic differences in the performance of common ED imaging studies and examined patterns across diagnoses. In this study, which evaluated visits by nonhospitalized patients younger than 18 years in 44 US children's hospital EDs, they found that non-Hispanic Black and Hispanic children were less likely to receive diagnostic imaging during ED visits compared with non-Hispanic White children. They recommended further investigation to understand and mitigate these potential disparities in health care delivery and to evaluate the effect of these differential imaging patterns on patient outcomes.
AHRQ-funded; HS026006.
Citation: Marin JR, Rodean J, Hall M .
Racial and ethnic differences in emergency department diagnostic imaging at US children's hospitals, 2016-2019.
JAMA Netw Open 2021 Jan 4(1):e2033710. doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2020.33710..
Keywords: Children/Adolescents, Hospitals, Emergency Department, Imaging, Racial and Ethnic Minorities, Disparities, Diagnostic Safety and Quality
Arana E, Carroll-Scott A, Massey PM
Racial/ethnic disparities in mammogram frequency among women with intellectual disability.
The purpose of this study was to collect survey and medical record data to examine associations between intellectual disability (ID) and race/ethnicity on mammogram frequency. Hispanic and Black women with ID are more likely than White women with ID to have mammograms every 2 years. Women who live in State-funded residences, are aged 50 and over, and had a mild or moderate level of ID impairment were more likely to have mammograms compared to those who lived with family or alone, were under 50, or who had severe ID impairment. The authors conclude that further research is needed to understand the mechanisms that explain these disparities.
AHRQ-funded; HS023966.
Citation: Arana E, Carroll-Scott A, Massey PM .
Racial/ethnic disparities in mammogram frequency among women with intellectual disability.
Intellect Dev Disabil 2019 Jun;57(3):177-87. doi: 10.1352/1934-9556-57.3.177..
Keywords: Disabilities, Disparities, Imaging, Prevention, Racial and Ethnic Minorities, Screening, Women
Shah SC, Nakata C, Polydorides AD
Upper endoscopy up to 3 years prior to a diagnosis of gastric cancer is associated with lower stage of disease in a USA multiethnic urban population, a retrospective study.
This study focused on the feasibility of earlier diagnosis of non-cardia gastic cancer (NCGC) for high-risk populations in the US who include multiracial and ethnic populations. A retrospective study was conducted with patients who were positively identified endoscopically with NCGC at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City. The primary outcome was an increased frequency of patients diagnosed with stage 0-Ia (38%) as opposed to stage Ib-III (34%) and stage IV (20.3%). For patients with stage 0-Ia if they had a prior negative endoscopy there was a 94% higher likelihood of the NCGC being in a curable stage.
AHRQ-funded; HS026395.
Citation: Shah SC, Nakata C, Polydorides AD .
Upper endoscopy up to 3 years prior to a diagnosis of gastric cancer is associated with lower stage of disease in a USA multiethnic urban population, a retrospective study.
J Prev Med Public Health 2019 May;52(3):179-87. doi: 10.3961/jpmph.18.262..
Keywords: Cancer, Diagnostic Safety and Quality, Digestive Disease and Health, Imaging, Racial and Ethnic Minorities, Urban Health
Rauscher GH, Dabbous F, Dolecek TA
Absence of an anticipated racial disparity in interval breast cancer within a large health care organization.
The researchers sought to estimate the extent of an anticipated racial disparity in interval breast cancer (IBC) within a single, large health care organization. Contrary to expectation, in patient-adjusted models, there was no IBC racial disparity. The sorting of patients by race across facilities appears to have mitigated an otherwise anticipated disparity in IBC.
AHRQ-funded; HS018366.
Citation: Rauscher GH, Dabbous F, Dolecek TA .
Absence of an anticipated racial disparity in interval breast cancer within a large health care organization.
Ann Epidemiol 2017 Oct;27(10):654-58. doi: 10.1016/j.annepidem.2017.09.002.
.
.
Keywords: Cancer: Breast Cancer, Cancer, Disparities, Racial and Ethnic Minorities, Women, Screening, Screening, Imaging