ArticleRadiation oncology journal2023
Nationwide changes in radiation oncology travel and location of care before and during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Article in Radiation oncology journal, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.
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Who cites it
1 citing paper in PubMed.
- Pediatric Radiation Oncology in the Era of COVID-19: A Single Institution Analysis.Cancer reports (Hoboken, N.J.) · 2025Article
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Authors and funding
11 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
purposePatients with cancer are particularly vulnerable to coronavirus disease (COVID). Transportation barriers made travel to obtain medical care more difficult during the pandemic. Whether these factors led to changes in the distance traveled for radiotherapy and the coordinated location of radiation treatment is unknown. MATERIALS AND
methodsWe analyzed patients across 60 cancer sites in the National Cancer Database from 2018 to 2020. Demographic and clinical variables were analyzed for changes in distance traveled for radiotherapy. We designated the facilities in the 99th percentile or above in terms of the proportion of patients who traveled more than 200 miles as "destination facilities." We defined "coordinated care" as undergoing radiotherapy at the same facility where the cancer was diagnosed.
resultsWe evaluated 1,151,954 patients. There was a greater than 1% decrease in the proportion of patients treated in the Mid-Atlantic States. Mean distance traveled from place of residence to radiation treatment decreased from 28.6 to 25.9 miles, and the proportion traveling greater than 50 miles decreased from 7.7% to 7.1%. At "destination facilities," the proportion traveling more than 200 miles decreased from 29.3% in 2018 to 24% in 2020. In comparison, at the other hospitals, the proportion traveling more than 200 miles decreased from 1.07% to 0.97%. In 2020, residing in a rural area resulted in a lower odds of having coordinated care (multivariable odds ratio = 0.89; 95% confidence interval, 0.83-0.95).
conclusionThe first year of the COVID pandemic measurably impacted the location of U.S. radiation therapy treatment.
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