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S H Taplin

Publications and source records attributed to S H Taplin.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1999

Effect of false-positive mammograms on interval breast cancer screening in a health maintenance organization.

BACKGROUND: Despite the mortality benefits of breast cancer screening, not all women receive regular mammography. Such factors as age, socioeconomic status, and physician recommendation have been associated with greater use of screening. However, we do not know whether having an abnormal mammogram affects future screening. OBJECTIVE: To examine the effect of a false-positive mammogram on adherence to the next recommended screening mammogram. DESIGN: Prospective cohort study. SETTING: The breast cancer screening program at Group Health Cooperative, a health maintenance organization in Washington state. PATIENTS: 5059 women 40 years of age or older with no history of breast cancer or breast surgery who had false-positive (n = 813) or true-negative (n = 4246) index screening mammograms between 1 August 1990 and 31 July 1992. MEASUREMENTS: Screening rates and odds ratios for recommended interval screening up to 42 months after the index mammogram. RESULTS: After adjustment for differences in age; previous use of mammography; family history of breast cancer; exogenous hormone use; and age at menarche, first childbirth, and menopause, women with false-positive index mammograms were more likely than those with true-negative index mammograms to obtain their next recommended screening mammogram (odds ratio, 1.21 [95% CI, 1.01 to 1.45]). The relation between a false-positive mammogram and the likelihood of adherence to screening in the next recommended interval was strongest among women who had not previously undergone mammography (odds ratio, 1.66 [CI, 1.26 to 2.17]). CONCLUSIONS: Having a false-positive mammogram did not adversely affect screening behavior in the next recommended interval. Women with false-positive mammograms, especially those without previous mammography, were more likely to return for the next scheduled screening.

Adult↗
PubMed1999

Survival and treatment for colorectal cancer Medicare patients in two group/staff health maintenance organizations and the fee-for-service setting.

The current study compares treatment use and long-term survival in colorectal cancer patients between Medicare beneficiaries enrolled in two large prepaid group/staff health maintenance organizations (HMOs) and the fee-for-service (FFS) setting. The study is based on 15,352 colorectal cancer cases diagnosed between 1985 and 1992 and followed through 1995. Survival differences between the HMO and FFS cases were assessed using Cox regression. Treatment differences were evaluated using logistic regression. HMO cases had a lower overall mortality than did FFS cases but not a significantly lower colorectal cancer-specific mortality. Use of surgical resection was similar between HMO and FFS cases. However, rectal cancer cases in the HMOs were more likely to receive postsurgical radiation therapy than FFS cases. Superior overall survival in the HMOs may be the result of increased colorectal cancer screening, greater use of adjuvant therapies, and selection of healthier individuals.

Aged↗
PubMed1999

Prostate cancer treatment and ten-year survival among group/staff HMO and fee-for-service Medicare patients.

OBJECTIVE: To compare treatment patterns and the ten-year survival of prostate cancer patients in two large, nonprofit, group/staff HMOs to those of patients receiving care in the fee-for-service health setting. DATA SOURCES/STUDY DESIGN: A cohort of men age 65 and over diagnosed with prostate cancer between 1985 and the end of 1992 and followed through 1994. Subjects (n = 21,741) were ascertained by two population-based tumor registries covering the greater San Francisco-Oakland and Seattle-Puget Sound areas. Linkage of registry data with Medicare claims data and with HMO inpatient utilization data allowed the determination of health plan enrollment and the measurement of comorbid conditions. Multivariate regression models were used to examine HMO versus FFS treatment and survival differences adjusting for sociodemographic and clinical characteristics. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Among cases with non-metastatic prostate cancer, HMO patients were more likely than FFS patients to receive aggressive therapy (either prostatectomy or radiation) in San Francisco-Oakland (odds ratio [OR] = 1.69, 95% CI = 1.46-1.96) but not in Seattle (OR = 1.15, 0.93-1.43). Among men receiving aggressive therapy, HMO cases were three to five times more likely to receive radiation therapy than prostatectomy. Overall mortality was equivalent over ten years (HMO versus FFS mortality risk ratio [RR] = 1.01, 0.94-1.08), but prostate cancer mortality was higher for HMO cases than for FFS cases (RR = 1.25, 1.13-1.39). CONCLUSION: Despite marked treatment differences for clinically localized prostate cancer, overall ten-year survival for patients enrolled in two nonprofit group/staff HMOs was equivalent to survival among patients receiving care in the FFS setting, even after adjustment for sociodemographic and clinical characteristics. Similar overall but better prostate cancer-specific survival among FFS patients is most plausibly explained by differences between the HMO and FFS patients in both tumor characteristics and unmeasured patient selection factors.

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PubMed1998

Variation in mammographic breast density by time in menstrual cycle among women aged 40-49 years.

BACKGROUND: Mammography is less effective for women aged 40-49 years than for older women, which has led to a call for research to improve the performance of screening mammography for younger women. One factor that may influence the performance of mammography is breast density. Younger women have greater mammographic breast density on average, and increased breast density increases the likelihood of false-negative and false-positive mammograms. We investigated whether breast density varies according to time in a woman's menstrual cycle. METHODS: Premenopausal women aged 40-49 years who were not on exogenous hormones and who had a screening mammogram at a large health maintenance organization during 1996 were studied (n = 2591). Time in the menstrual cycle was based on the woman's self-reported last menstrual bleeding and usual cycle length. RESULTS: A smaller proportion of women had "extremely dense" breasts during the follicular phase of their menstrual cycle (24% for week 1 and 23% for week 2) than during the luteal phase (28% for both weeks 3 and 4) (two-sided P = .04 for the difference in breast density between the phases, adjusted for body mass index). The relationship was stronger for women whose body mass index was less than or equal to the median (two-sided P<.01), the group who have the greatest breast density. CONCLUSIONS/IMPLICATIONS: These findings are consistent with previous evidence suggesting that scheduling a woman's mammogram during the follicular phase (first and second week) of her menstrual cycle instead of during the luteal phase (third and fourth week) may improve the accuracy of mammography for premenopausal women in their forties. Breast tissue is less radiographically dense in the follicular phase than in the luteal phase.

Adult↗
PubMed1997

Breast cancer survival and treatment in health maintenance organization and fee-for-service settings.

BACKGROUND: Enrollment in health maintenance organizations (HMOs) has increased rapidly during the past 10 years, reflecting a growing emphasis on health care cost containment. To determine whether there is a difference in the treatment and outcome for female patients with breast cancer enrolled in HMOs versus a fee-for-service setting, we compared the 10-year survival and initial treatment of patients with breast cancer enrolled in both types of plans. METHODS: With the use of tumor registries covering the greater San Francisco-Oakland and Seattle-Puget Sound areas, respectively, we obtained information on the treatment and outcome for 13,358 female patients with breast cancer, aged 65 years and older, diagnosed between 1985 and 1992. We linked registry information with Medicare data and data from the two large HMOs included in the study. We compared the survival and treatment differences between HMO and fee-for-service care after adjusting for tumor stage, comorbidity, and sociodemographic characteristics. RESULTS: In San Francisco-Oakland, the 10-year adjusted risk ratio for breast cancer deaths among HMO patients compared with fee-for-service patients was 0.71 (95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.59-0.87) and was comparable for all deaths. In Seattle-Puget Sound, the risk ratio for breast cancer deaths was 1.01 (95% CI = 0.77-1.33) but somewhat lower for all deaths. Women enrolled in HMOs were more likely to receive breast-conserving surgery than women in fee-for-service (odds ratio = 1.55 in San Francisco-Oakland; 3.39 in Seattle). HMO enrollees undergoing breast-conserving surgery were also more likely to receive adjuvant radiotherapy (San Francisco-Oakland odds ratio = 2.49; Seattle odds ratio = 4.62). CONCLUSIONS: Long-term survival outcomes in the two prepaid group practice HMOs in this study were at least equal to, and possibly better than, outcomes in the fee-for-service system. In addition, the use of recommended therapy for early stage breast cancer was more frequent in the two HMOs.

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PubMed1997

Mammography diffusion and trends in late-stage breast cancer: evaluating outcomes in a population.

The purpose of this study was to assess mammography diffusion in a population offered an organized breast cancer screening program, using intervals of 1-3 years, and to evaluate its effect on the late-stage cancer (tumors > or = 3 cm2) rates compared to rates in the surrounding community. We measured "ever-use" of mammography (1986-1992) among women enrollees of a consumer-controlled health care organization (n > or = 60,000/year; ages > or = 40), Group Health Cooperative of Puget Sound (GHC). Among these same women and the surrounding community (n = > or = 745,000/year), we measured late-stage cancer rates. Using unconditional logistic regression, we compared annual rates of ever-use among GHC women ages 40-49 and > or = 50 (1986-1992) and late-stage breast cancer (1983/84-1991/92) among all women. Among all GHC women ages 40 to 49, and 50 years of age and older, 67.4 and 82.8%, respectively, ever-used mammography by 1992. By 1992, approximately one-third of the mammograms among GHC women occurred in each of the three previous years. The rate of late-stage tumors declined significantly in the GHC and non-GHC populations among women 50 years of age and older (P < 0.001) but not among women ages 40 to 49. In conclusion, implementing a system of automated reminders was not sufficient to maximize mammography use in a population. Reductions in late-stage disease occurred among women ages > or = 50, even when regular" was not synonymous with "annual."

Adult↗
PubMed1996

Effect of estrogen replacement therapy on the specificity and sensitivity of screening mammography.

BACKGROUND: Previous studies have demonstrated that mammographic breast density increases following the initiation of estrogen replacement therapy (ERT). The effect, if any, that this increase in density has on the specificity (related to false-positive readings) and the sensitivity (related to false-negative readings) of screening mammography is unknown. PURPOSE: Using a retrospective cohort study design, we assessed the effects of ERT on the specificity and the sensitivity of screening mammography. METHODS: Participants (n = 8779) were postmenopausal women, aged 50 years or older, who were enrolled in a health maintenance organization located in western Washington state and who entered a breast cancer screening program between January 1988 and June 1993. Two-view mammography was performed as part of a comprehensive breast cancer screening visit. Menopausal status, as well as demographic and risk-factor information, was recorded via self-administered questionnaires. Hormonal replacement therapy type and use were determined from questionnaire data and from an automated review of pharmacy records. Individuals diagnosed with breast cancer within 12 months of their first screening-program mammograms were identified through use of a regional cancer registry. Risk ratios (RRs) plus 95% confidence intervals (CIs) of false-positive as well as false-negative examinations among current and former ERT users (with never users as the reference group) were calculated. Reported P values are two-sided. RESULTS: The specificity of mammographic screening was lower for current users of ERT than for never users or former users. Defining a positive mammographic reading as any non-normal reading (either suspicious for cancer or indeterminate), the adjusted RR (95% CI) of a false-positive reading for current users versus never users was 1.33 (1.15-1.54) (P < .001); for former users versus never users, the RR (95% CI) was 1.00 (0.87-1.15). The adjusted mammographic specificities (95% CIs) for never users, former users, and current users of ERT were 86% (84%-88%), 86% (84%-87%), and 82% (80%-84%), respectively. Defining a positive reading more rigorously (i.e., as suspicious for cancer only), the adjusted RRs (95% CIs) of false-positive readings for current users and former users (versus never users) were 1.71 (1.37-2.14) (P < .001) and 1.16 (0.93-1.45), respectively. Sensitivity was also lower in women currently receiving ERT. The unadjusted RR (95% CI) of a false-negative reading for current users versus never users was 5.23 (1.09-25.02) (P = .04); for former users versus never users, the RR (95% CI) was 1.06 (0.10-10.87). The unadjusted mammographic sensitivities (95% CI) for never users, former users, and current users of ERT were 94% (80%-99%), 94% (69%-99%), and 69% (38%-91%), respectively. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: Current use of ERT is associated with lower specificity and lower sensitivity of screening mammography. Lower specificity could increase the cost of breast cancer screening, and lower sensitivity may decrease its effectiveness.

Aged↗
PubMed1996

Community organization to promote breast cancer screening ordering by primary care physicians.

Community organization has been viewed as a promising approach to changing preventive behaviors. We evaluated the impact of community organization strategies to promote breast cancer screening ordering by primary care physicians in Washington State. Physicians practicing in two intervention and two control communities were surveyed by mail pre-intervention (1989) and post-intervention (1993). Intervention activities targeting the health care sector included the formation of local physician planning groups, a series of informational mailings, medical office staff training sessions, and reminder system support. There were no significant post-intervention differences in the self-reported mammography ordering of physicians practicing in the intervention and control areas. Over the four-year study period, the proportions of physicians who ordered regular mammography increased by 36%. By 1993, over 80% of the respondents routinely used mammographic screening. Concerns about the high price of mammograms and inadequate insurance coverage were significantly reduced over time in both community pairs. Also, use of patient reminder systems increased significantly between 1989 and 1993. Secular trends resulting from diffusion of strategies to promote mammography were responsible for increases in physician ordering of the procedure. Year 2000 goals for breast cancer screening use by physicians may already have been met in some communities.

Aged↗
PubMed1995

Primary and secondary prevention services in clinical practice. Twenty years' experience in development, implementation, and evaluation.

This article reviews lessons from 20 years of experience in development and provision of clinical preventive services at Group Health Cooperative of Puget Sound, a large health maintenance organization. Critical factors for enhancing service include the use of a population-based epidemiologic viewpoint coupled with specific evidence-based criteria to examine issues; involvement of practitioners in the process; a systems approach to implementation focused on predisposing factors of the practitioners and enabling factors in the practice, organizational, and community environments; feedback of program outcomes; and the use of automated clinical information systems. Outcome results from our clinical prevention efforts include a 32% decrease in late-stage breast cancer (1989 to 1990); 89% of 2-year-old children with complete immunizations (1994); decrease in adult smokers from 25% to 17% (1985 to 1994); and an increase in bicycle safety helmet use among children from 4% to 48% along with a 67% decrease in bicycle-related head injuries (1987 to 1992). Systematic population-based approaches to the development and provision of clinical preventive services targeting the one-to-one level of primary care and multiple infrastructure levels of care are forging a synthesis of clinical medicine and public health approaches. This approach will become pervasive as clinical information systems improve, risk information is captured routinely, and practitioners gain skills in the art of patient risk behavior change and population-based care.

Breast Neoplasms↗
PubMed1995

Stage, age, comorbidity, and direct costs of colon, prostate, and breast cancer care.

PURPOSE: This study was conducted to evaluate the effect of stage at diagnosis, age, and level of comorbidity (presence of other illness) on the costs of treating three types of cancer among members of a health maintenance organization. METHODS: Among 388,000 members enrolled anytime during 1990 and 1991 in Group Health Cooperative (GHC) of Puget Sound (Washington State), we estimated the total and net direct costs of medical care for colon, prostate, and breast cancers, including both incident (290, 554, and 645 patients, respectively) and prevalent (1046, 1295, and 2299 patients, respectively) cases. We summarized costs for initial, continuing, and terminal phases of care. Net costs were the difference between the costs of the care of each case subject and the average costs of the care for all enrollees without the cancer of interest who were of the same sex and in the same 5-year age group. Differences in estimated total and net costs by stage at diagnosis, age, and comorbidity were separately evaluated using multivariate regression modeling. All P values were two-sided. Comorbidity was based on a score calculated from 1988 pharmacy data. RESULTS: Total costs of initial care increased with stage at diagnosis for colon (P = .0013) and breast (P < .0001) cancer cases, but not for prostate cancer cases. Total initial costs decreased with age for prostate (P = .0225) and breast (P = .0002) cancers but did not change with degree of comorbidity for any of the three cancers. Total continuing medical care costs increased with stage at diagnosis for colon (P < .0001) and breast (P < .0001) cancer cases but not for prostate cancer cases. Total terminal care costs were similar by stage for all three cancers. Net initial costs differed with stage for all three cancers (P < .05). Net continuing care costs increased with stage (P < .0001) and decreased with age (P < .001) for colon and breast cancers but not for prostate cancer. Net continuing care costs decreased with comorbidity for all three cancers (P = .004, P = .011, and P < .0001 for colon, prostate, and breast cancers, respectively). Among regional stage cancers, continuing care costs decreased with age for colon (P < .0017) and breast (P = .033) cancers but not for prostate cancers. CONCLUSIONS: The results show that total costs vary by stage at diagnosis and age, but the patterns of variation differ for each cancer. Costs of cancer are not simply additive to costs of other conditions. IMPLICATIONS: More needs to be done to explore the reasons and implications of age-related cost differences. Cost-effectiveness analyses of cancer control interventions that shift cancer stage distributions may need to consider both the age and comorbidity of the target populations.

Adult↗
PubMed1995

Community organization to promote breast cancer screening among women ages 50-75.

BACKGROUND: To reduce breast cancer mortality, ways to promote the use of mammography screening among women age 50 and above are needed. Community organization may be a useful approach. METHODS: The Washington State Community Breast Cancer Screening Project involved implementation of promotional activities initiated by physician and lay community boards in two communities. Two comparable communities served as controls for evaluation purposes. Random-digit-dial telephone interviews were used to assess recent use of mammography at baseline and follow-up in independent samples of women ages 50 to 75 from the four communities. The extent of exposure to intervention activities and the relationship between exposure to intervention activities and mammography use were estimated from data collected at follow-up. RESULTS: Exposure to patient reminders from physicians, wallet reminder cards, and newspaper advertisements were consistently related to mammography use. Physician office staff encouragement and a display board were significantly related to mammography use only in Intervention Communities A and B, respectively. Neither exposure to promotional activities nor the change in prevalence of mammography use was significantly higher in the intervention communities than in the comparison communities at follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: Although several activities were useful in promoting mammography use, organization of the community did not enhance efforts undertaken spontaneously by comparable communities.

Aged↗
PubMed1995

Practicing population-based care in an HMO: evaluation after 18 months.

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether population-based care in a primary care practice results in improvement in compliance with patient care guidelines. DESIGN: Time series analysis. SETTING: One primary care practice in Group Health Cooperative of Puget Sound (GHC). PARTICIPANTS: Approximately 1500 enrollees cared for by the practice. INTERVENTIONS: An ongoing approach to aid clinical planning at the level of the primary care team--population-based care--that depends on clinical guidelines, a computing system to provide epidemiologic data on guideline performance in the practice and reminders, and a process whereby the practice team analyzed and designs interventions for specific clinical problems. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: We compared compliance with practice guidelines for preventive care and chronic illness management at baseline and after 18 months in the intervention population with other patients in the same clinic and with patients in GHC as a whole. RESULTS: Compliance with breast cancer screening and colorectal cancer screening guidelines in the intervention population increased from baseline 32% and 18% respectively. These increases were significantly greater than in the remainder of the clinic or in GHC as a whole. CONCLUSIONS: The availability of practice-based data, clinical guidelines and a local intervention design process resulted in significant improvements in compliance with patient care guidelines.

Algorithms↗
PubMed1995

Repeat mammography use among women ages 50-75.

It has been demonstrated clearly that the use of regular screening mammography reduces mortality among women ages 50 years and over. The primary objective of this study was to investigate factors associated with repeat mammography participation. A random sample of women ages 50-75 years residing in four Washington State counties was surveyed by telephone during mid-1989. The Health Belief Model was used as a conceptual framework for the analysis. Three groups of women with different mammography experiences in the previous 5 years were compared: (a) nonusers; (b) onetime users; and (c) repeat users. The survey response rate was 72%, and the study sample included 1357 women. One time users were more likely to have health insurance coverage, to visit a gynecologist or other primary care physician regularly, and to believe mammography is more effective than breast self-examination; they were less likely to think that at least 1 in 10 women are diagnosed with breast cancer or that mammography is inconvenient to obtain than were nonusers. Factors associated with repeat versus onetime use included routinely visiting a gynecologist, thinking the lifetime risk of breast cancer is at least 10%, and perceiving a high personal susceptibility to disease. Women who perceive themselves as being vulnerable to breast cancer are more likely to report repeat mammograms. Visiting a gynecologist regularly is associated with repeat as well as initial mammography use. These factors could be considered as the focus of promotional efforts moves from encouraging women to obtain their first mammogram to encouraging repeat use.

Aged↗
PubMed1994

A population-based case-cohort evaluation of the efficacy of mammographic screening for breast cancer.

Screening efficacy may be evaluated in population-based, observational studies, provided one addresses biases that arise in nonrandomized screening evaluations. The authors evaluated the association of mammographic screening with breast cancer mortality among women without prevalent breast cancer. The cohort consisted of 94,656 women, aged > or = 40 years, enrolled in a large health maintenance organization in Washington State during the period 1982-1988. A case-cohort design limited chart abstraction of risk factor and screening information to 4% of the cohort. There were 1,144 incident breast cancer cases, including 126 who died of breast cancer during the study interval. An age-stratified proportional hazards analysis compared the screening experience of the breast cancer deaths with that of 2,237 controls. The family history of breast cancer, previous biopsy, and parity were included in the model to control for potential confounding effects of selection bias. With a mean follow-up of only 3.5 years postscreening, there was a small but statistically nonsignificant reduction in the risk of breast cancer mortality among women screened 1 year prior to diagnosis compared with unscreened women. The relative risk was 0.80 (95% confidence interval 0.34-1.85) for women aged > or = 40 years and 0.61 (95% confidence interval 0.23-1.62) for women aged > or = 50 years. This paper illustrates how case-cohort methodology can be used to perform efficient assessment of screening efficacy in large cohorts, while eliminating or controlling for sources of bias.

Adult↗
PubMed1994

Using physician correspondence and postcard reminders to promote mammography use.

OBJECTIVES: In a health maintenance organization that mails letters to women recommending that they schedule mammograms, we conducted a randomized trial to evaluate simple methods of increasing the use of screening mammography. METHODS: Using a 2 x 2 factorial design, we tested the effects of (1) mailing the recommendation letter from each woman's primary care physician rather than from the program director and (2) sending a subsequent reminder postcard. RESULTS: Sending a reminder postcard nearly doubled the odds that women would get mammograms within 1 year (participate). The letter from the woman's personal physician had no effect. Attending a clinic more than 45 minutes from the screening center, being a current smoker, or being in fair or poor health were negatively associated with subsequently obtaining a mammogram. The odds of participation doubled if women had had previous mammograms. CONCLUSIONS: When preceded by written recommendations to schedule mammograms, reminder postcards effectively increased participation. Future randomized trials to promote use of screening mammography should compare interventions with a reminder condition.

Aged↗
PubMed1993

A randomized trial of the impact of risk assessment and feedback on participation in mammography screening.

BACKGROUND: Although rates of mammography screening among women in the general population have been increasing they still fall short of national goals. This study evaluated the effects on rates of participation in mammography screening of obtaining risk factor information and providing general or personalized risk information through direct mailed correspondence. METHODS: Women enrollees in a health maintenance organization (N = 2,076), age 50 and above, were randomized to one of the following four groups: (a) no risk factor questionnaire + generic invitation, (b) no risk factor questionnaire + general risk invitation, (c) risk factor questionnaire + general risk invitation, and (d) risk factor questionnaire + personal risk invitation. Computerized visit records were monitored for 12 months following a mailed invitation to assess whether a mammogram had been obtained. RESULTS: Overall participation was 37.5% and the rate of participation did not differ significantly across groups (P = 0.26). Participation was related to age (P < 0.02), with rates highest for women ages 60-69 years (42.7%) compared with those for women ages 50-59 (35.5%) and those age 70+ (33.7%). Among women with a family history of breast cancer, the personalized risk invitation was associated with significantly higher participation compared with general risk invitation (66.7 versus 42.9%, respectively; P < 0.003). CONCLUSIONS: Women with a family history of breast cancer are more likely to obtain a mammogram if that fact is reinforced as a risk factor. Research on environmental barriers to mammography screening may suggest alternative strategies for increasing participation.

Adult↗