Abstract
Objective
To identify differences in healthcare expenditures and utilization by race in patients
treated for common benign urologic conditions.
Materials and Methods
A retrospective secondary data analysis was conducted of patients with common benign
urologic conditions using 2016-2018 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey data. Benign
conditions included urolithiasis, cystitis, erectile dysfunction (ED), pelvic organ
prolapse (POP), urinary incontinence (UI), and benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH).
Generalized linear models were used to evaluate the relationship between total healthcare
expenditures and utilization and race for each condition. Adjusted analyses accounted
for age, sex, number of chronic conditions, poverty status, self-reported health status,
marital status, highest degree of educational attainment, and insurance status.
Results
The weighted analysis sample consisted of 27,110,416 patients, of whom 80.9% were
Non-Hispanic white, 6.9% Non-Hispanic black, and 12.2% other minority races. After
adjustment, total healthcare expenditures were significantly lower for Non-Hispanic
blacks (incidence rate ratio [IRR] = 0.19, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.06-0.61)
and other minority races (IRR = 0.30, 95% CI: 0.10-0.88) compared to Non-Hispanic
whites treated for ED. Similarly, compared to Non-Hispanic whites, healthcare expenditures
were significantly lower for Non-Hispanic blacks treated for UI (IRR = 0.56, 95% CI:
0.35-0.90).
Conclusion
Healthcare expenditures are significantly lower for Non-Hispanic black patients treated
for ED and UI in the US Future research is needed to determine if these differences
represent an inequality in the delivery of urologic care for patients with these conditions.
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: July 06, 2021
Accepted:
June 24,
2021
Received:
March 31,
2021
Footnotes
Conflict of Interest: Dr Gross is a consultant for Coloplast. Other authors have no conflict of interest.
Financial Disclosure: This research study was not supported by private industry.
Identification
Copyright
© 2021 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
