Quyen Ngo-Metzger, MD, MPH, KPSOM Interim Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs and Professor of Health Systems Science, has co-authored a study assessing potential disparities in the receipt of 15 high-priority clinical preventive services among non-institutionalized adults aged 35 and older. The study, titled “Disparities in Receipt of High-Priority Clinical Preventive Services,” was recently published in the journal Discover Health Systems.
“This study provides the first national estimates of health disparities in important preventive care such as cancer screening and other preventive services for this adult population living in the United States,” said Dr. Ngo-Metzger. “We found that being Black, poor, uninsured, or having limited English-language proficiency significantly increased a person’s risk of not receiving the appropriate preventive care.”
The study, which is based on a 2018 cross-sectional survey from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality Medical Expenditure Panel Survey, found that Black adults were 37 percent less likely than white adults to receive these preventative services, and those with a high school education or below were less than half as likely as college graduates to receive preventive services. In addition, the uninsured were 89 percent less likely than those with private insurance to receive preventive services, while non-English-speaking adults were 35 percent less likely than those who spoke English to receive all high-priority services.
The study’s preventive services include alcohol use, tobacco use, and obesity screening and counseling; aspirin use discussion; blood pressure, breast cancer, cervical cancer, cholesterol, colon cancer, depression, osteoporosis, and prostate cancer screening; and flu, pneumococcal, and Zoster vaccination.
Notably, this research provides “the first national estimates of disparities in receipt of all recommended high-priority preventive services, a measure of person-centered prevention,” and the study’s results help guide the application, assessment, and scaling of interventions to achieve equity in the delivery of preventive services, including the use of digital health solutions, enhanced models of primary care, and connections between clinical care and public health and community-based organizations.
The study further indicates that COVID-19 has negatively affected access to care and preventive services and highlights the need for further identify the root causes of disparities and the reasons for low overall receipt of preventive services. In addition, the research shows that improved population health is dependent on “effective strategies to increase uptake of high-priority preventive services while reducing disparities in receipt of these services.”
“It is extremely important that we address these health inequities to improve the health of everyone in the nation,” said Dr. Ngo-Metzger.
Read the article here .
