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Measuring (and narrowing) the gap: The experience with attendance of Indigenous cancer patients for Radiation Therapy in the Northern Territory
Author(s) -
Carruthers Scott,
Pennefather Mary,
Ward Linda,
Giam Kar,
Penniment Michael
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
journal of medical imaging and radiation oncology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.31
H-Index - 43
eISSN - 1754-9485
pISSN - 1754-9477
DOI - 10.1111/1754-9485.12887
Subject(s) - medicine , indigenous , attendance , radiation therapy , cancer , cancer therapy , medical physics , family medicine , radiology , economic growth , ecology , biology , economics
Abstract Introduction Barriers exist for both Indigenous and remote patients attending cancer care facilities. We sought to measure clinical attendance of all patients referred for consideration of radiation therapy ( RT ) at the single radiation therapy centre in the Northern Territory ( NT ), with particular attention to a comparison of Indigenous and non‐Indigenous patients, and to analyse methods introduced to address the attendance of patients. Methods Patients referred for radiation therapy over a 5 year period from the commencement of the Alan Walker Cancer Care Centre ( AWCCC ), NT , were analysed for attendance, and for possible improvement over time. Results Multivariate analysis of non‐attendance prior to RT (pre‐ RT ) showed significance for Indigenous status ( P < 0.001), and female gender ( P < 0.001), and during RT showed significance for Indigenous status ( P < 0.001) and curative intent RT ( P = 0.012). Attendance during RT over the 5 years showed significant improvement over time for Indigenous patients from 70.6% to 81.6% ( P = 0.038). There was no significant improvement with pre‐ RT attendance for either the Indigenous or non‐Indigenous cohort. Conclusion Indigenous patients experienced a lower level of attendance during RT , but this has significantly improved over the first 5 years of operation at AWCCC , as recognition and management of contributing factors has improved.