Hispanic Children Suffering From Brain Cancer Do Not Enjoy Equal Access to Medical Care
Children of Hispanic ethnic who suffer from brain cancer, as statistics show, enjoy in a small number and rare occasions a qualitative therapy in clinical centers which have as specialization neurosurgery compared to other children suffering from the same disease. This mischance makes the difference in the mortality rate due to the fact that a high-quality treatment and early diagnosis of their condition represent milestones in their battle for life. These statements were presented in a research release in the October issue of the Pediatrics magazine concluded by a team of scientists from Johns Hopkins.
After more than ten years since the breakthrough report entitled Crossing the Quality Chasm released by the Institute of Medicine, the team of researchers from John Hopkins sate that they discovered continuous examples of patients who did not have access to modern treatment facilities. This finding represents the milestone in questions such as why is this unequal access to therapies in our nowadays society.
This research was funded by Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the Children’s Cancer Foundation and Johns Hopkins Center for Innovative Medicine. Teaming up some of the investigators we find: Thomas Kosztowski, Hasan Zaidi, Benjamin Carson and David Chang.
The lead author of the study was medical doctor from the neurosurgery department from Hopkins, Mr. Raj Mukherjee. From his statements why find out that it came as a shock to the scientists that even though measures were taken in order to bring up to date and grant everyone access to the same treatments, for Hispanic people these gasps still persist and even worsen.
The study revealed that ill people undergoing treatments at specialized clinical centers that allow access to a high number of patients with the same diseases are prone to get better on the short-term as well as on the long-run. One example supporting these findings is concerned with the people that went through surgery for getting rid of brain tumors in hospitals that recorded a small number of brain surgeries. The mortality rate among these patients was sixteen times higher compared to the one encountered in ill people who underwent treatment in clinical centers that recorded higher numbers of neurosurgeries.
As pediatric neurosurgeon Mr. George Jallo who is also one of the authors of this study states it seems that the gaps in access to specialized clinics is one of the leading factors in infant deaths. The brain cancer is a common illness of this type that affects children and since the little ones are not granted access to the best hospitals their chances to life diminish at a fast pace. Moreover, due to this lack of access a huge number of little patients are not even allowed an optimal therapy which can lead to tumor remittances and a vast number of neurological negative effects.
The research undergone at John Hopkins studied a number of 4,421 children who suffered from brain cancer. The investigation`s time span was of eighteen years in which the researchers discovered that the access gaps were very common in Hispanic patients and children coming from families with low incomes and social statuses as well as kids originating from areas that were characterized by a high number of immigrants that had few or no neurosurgeons to aid them with their sufferings.
Another interesting fact found by the team of scientists was the fact that insurance did not matter at all in the access to a good neurosurgery facility. Moreover, the investigators from John Hopkins put in relationship two databases. The first database contained information regarding the hospitals and the patients and the second one featured demographic and information about the specific environments. By linking the two databases together, the team of investigators managed to discover how agents such as ethnicity and rate of non-local persons born in the state of residence played their role in the lack of access to specialized neurosurgery hospitals.
It was found that just 37% out of the ill people undergoing the research managed to get therapy at clinical centers in which there was a great number of brain surgeries undertaken. All the figures reflected the fact that Hispanic people did not get the same chance to qualitative medical services compared to other ethnics comprised by the study. The team of researchers from John Hopkins adjusted economic and insurance factors and still got the same results mainly that children suffering from brain cancer having Hispanic ethnicity managed to get access to specialized treatments in the same small numbers, about one-third of them were treated in hospitals recording large numbers of brain surgeries compared to other little patients.
As the top researcher, medical doctor Alfredo Quiñones-Hinojosa from the Hopkins` Neurosurgery and Oncology Department sadly states it seems that if a child is of Hispanic origin and suffers from brain cancer, he or she is prone to be stalled in getting the high-quality treatment for his or her illness. Mr. Alfredo Quiñones-Hinojosa also states that his team also discovered alarming information concerned with the fact that until 2050, Hispanic people will sum up almost 25% of the United States` entire population. The doctor calls for attention in the matter that if it were to believe this figure, in a rather short period, one-fourth of the United States` inhabitants will receive under the standards medical care.
In tune with the worldwide changes and the healthcare reforms, doctor Quiñones-Hinojosa also states that this period is the milestone in diminishing or even completely counteracting the unequal access of all the persons to a high-quality care system.
The investigators from John Hopkins explain that further research needs to be done in order to better develop efficient studies that properly assess every ill persons` decision-making process in order to find out who are the ones that get medical care are and more importantly where they get it from. Moreover, researchers need to think of new methods of eliminating misjudgments caused by insurance and institutions.
