PATIENT EDUCATION
‘seasoned’
Is age alone a valid concern in breast reconstruction?
(Division of Plastic Surgery, University of Pennsylvania Health System, Philadelphia)
The events that unfolded during the first half of 2020 renewed the national conversation around persistent disparities in modernday healthcare. Among the many
documented inequalities in U.S. healthcare, post-mastectomy breast cancer reconstruction remains a continuing concern. National statistics reveal that disparities in breast reconstruction involve not only race/ ethnicity and socioeconomic status, but also age. More specifically, it’s been found that women older than 65 are much less likely to undergo reconstructive surgery compared to their younger counterparts.
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l PSN: BREAST RECONSTRUCTION 2020
This data fuels several questions. First, do these differences span all breast reconstructive surgery options? Second, is this disparity a result of patients’ preferences or are they due to existing biases within the healthcare system? Finally, if biases do exist, are they medically warranted?
Still learning In 1998, a pivotal turning point in the history of breast cancer reconstruction surgery occurred with the passage of the Women’s Health and Cancer Rights Act (WHCRA). The legislation was instrumental in expanding healthcare benefits to thousands of women diagnosed
PHOTO: ISTOCKPHOTO.COM
By Monica Llado-Farrulla, MD, and Paris D. Butler, MD, MPH
