Assessing Geographic Variation in Rates of Cervical Cancer and Recurrent or Metastatic Cervical Cancer Among Medicaid Enrollees

Abstract

Objective: The objective of this study was to evaluate trends in prevalence of cervical cancer (CC) and rates of recurrent or metastatic cervical cancer (r/mCC) treatment initiation at the state and metropolitan statistical area (MSA) levels among Medicaid enrolled females from 2016 to 2019.

Methods: Retrospective analyses of nationwide Medicaid claims data were used to identify adult CC and r/mCC patients from 2016 to 2019. CC prevalence was estimated as the proportion of females diagnosed with CC out of all adult female Medicaid beneficiaries, and r/mCC by the proportion of CC patients who initiated a systemic treatment not associated with surgery or radiation to the number of enrollees with CC diagnosis in each state or MSA. Overall and annual rates were calculated for each state and MSA from 2016 to 2019.

Results: The analytic cohort included 70,865 adult female Medicaid beneficiaries with CC from 2016 to 2019, among whom 3375 were identified as r/mCC patients. Nationwide annual prevalence of CC remained relatively stable from 2016 to 2019, while r/mCC decreased slightly over the study period. Several MSAs experienced increasing rates of r/mCC from 2016 to 2019, including Mayaguez, PR, Aguadeilla-Isabela, PR, and Green Bay, WI.

Conclusions: Claims data demonstrate areas in the United States with disproportionately high or increasing CC or r/mCC burden, indicating a potential gap in preventative care for females and an unmet need for education and health care resource allocation. Future research should evaluate associations between community-level factors and r/mCC burden.