Introduction: Disparities in survival for bladder and kidney cancer among the genders and patients with varying insurance coverage have been identified. Microhematuria (MH), a potential early clinical sign of genitourinary malignancy, should prompt a standardized diagnostic evaluation. However, many patients do not complete a full evaluation and may be at risk of a missed or delayed identification of genitourinary pathology.
Methods: Patients 35 and older with a new diagnosis of MH between 2007 and 2015 were retrospectively identified at a large health system. Our primary outcome of interest was completion of cystoscopy and imaging. Regression modeling was used to assess associations between gender and insurance status with completion of a MH evaluation, adjusted for clinical factors, urinalysis data, and patient demographics.
Results: Of 15,161 patients with MH, only 1,273 patients (8.4%) completed upper tract imaging and a cystoscopy; 899 (5.9%) within 1 year. Median time to imaging was 75days and 68.5days for cystoscopy. Of those with an incomplete evaluation, 23.7% underwent cystoscopy and 76.3% underwent imaging. Male gender, private insurance, and increased MH severity on UA were associated with a complete evaluation. More patients who completed an evaluation were diagnosed with bladder (4.8% vs. 0.3%) and kidney cancer (3.1% vs. 0.4%) when compared to those who did not.
Conclusion: Few patients complete a timely evaluation of MH. Women and underinsured patients are disproportionately less likely to complete a work-up for microhematuria and this may have downstream implications for diagnosis.
Keywords: Bladder cancer; Cystoscopy; Hematuria; Kidney cancer; Microhematuria.
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