Barriers to breast reconstruction after mastectomy in Nova XXXX .

@entity1 @entity1687 @entity0
BACKGROUND: Breast reconstruction after mastectomy is associated with social, psychological and physical benefits. Barriers to breast reconstruction in the United States include age, stage of disease, socioeconomic status and geographic location; however, little is known about the effects of these factors in the Canadian context of a universal health care system. We sought to determine the rate of breast reconstruction in Nova @entity1687 , identify characteristics influencing access to the procedure and describe the rates of different reconstructive options. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective cohort study involving all @entity1 in Nova @entity1687 who received diagnoses of @entity0 and had mastectomies between 1991 and 2001. We linked data from 2 administrative databases and performed analyses for each year in the study period. We followed the @entity1 until the end of the study period (2001). We used logistic regression to evaluate potential barriers to reconstruction. RESULTS: A total of 3717 @entity1 had mastectomies during the 10-year study period; of these @entity1 , 142 (3.8%) had breast reconstruction. The reconstruction rate increased to more than 5% in 3 of the last 4 years. Factors affecting the rate of breast reconstruction included @entity1 age, stage of disease and year of mastectomy. Household income did not significantly affect the likelihood of @entity1 seeking breast reconstruction. CONCLUSION: The rate of breast reconstruction in Nova @entity1687 (3.8%) is considerably lower than rates reported in the United States (8%-45%). The fact that household income did not influence the breast reconstruction rate may reflect the universal nature of Canada's public health care system.
