Can Differences in Breast Cancer Utilities Explain Disparities in Breast Cancer Care?

BACKGROUND: Black, older, and less affluent women are less likely to receive adjuvant breast cancer therapy than their counterparts. Whereas preference contributes to disparities in other healt care scenarios, it is unclear if preference explains differential rates of breast cancer care.

OBJECTIVE: To ascertain utilities from women of diverse backgrounds for the different stages of, and treatments for, breast cancer and to determine whether a treatment decision modeled from utilities is associated with socio-demographic characteristics.

PARTICIPANTS: A stratified sample (by age and race) of 156 English-speaking women over 25 years old not currently...