Analysis of socioeconomic factors in laryngology clinic utilization for treatment of dysphonia. Issue 1 (31st December 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: White, Shane W.; Bock, Jonathan M.; Blumin, Joel H.; Friedland, David R.; Adams, Jazzmyne A.; Tong, Ling; Osinski, Kristen; Luo, Jake
• Is Part Of: Laryngoscope investigative otolaryngology. Volume 7:Issue 1(2022)
• Page Start: 202
• Page End: 209
• Publication Date: 2021-12-31
• Subjects: disparity -- dysphonia -- laryngology -- social determinants -- utilization; Otolaryngology -- Periodicals; Laryngoscopy -- Periodicals; Otolaryngology; Otolaryngology; Periodicals; Periodicals; 617.51
• DOI: 10.1002/lio2.715
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2378-8038

Abstract

Abstract: Objective: To evaluate the association between patient socioeconomic and demographic factors and tertiary care utilization for dysphonia in a localized metropolitan area of the American Midwest. Methods: Multivariate regression analysis was used to correlate patient demographics and population level data (e.g., age, gender, race, insurance, median income, education level) with tertiary laryngology utilization for dysphonia care at our institution between 2000 and 2019. Initial analyses characterized tertiary laryngology utilization rates for all regional ZIP codes and correlated these data with census information for household income and education. Dysphonia patient demographics were compared among populations cared for in our entire academic Otolaryngology department, our health system, and the regional population. Results: Among 1, 365, 021 patients in our health system, there were 7066 tertiary laryngology visits with a diagnosis of dysphonia. Dysphonia patients as compared to the overall health system were older (62.0 vs. 50.8 years), more likely to be female (63.7 vs. 50.2%) and more likely to have insurance (98.4 vs. 87.5%, all p < .001). Patient and population‐level factors including insurance status, education, and black race showed positive correlation with laryngology utilization while median income did not. Conclusions and Relevance: Insurance status, education level, and race correlated with utilization of tertiary laryngology services for the evaluation of dysphonia in our community, while median income did not. Black patients utilized tertiary laryngology care at higher rates compared to departmental and regional population utilization data. These results underscore important demographic and disease‐specific factors that may affect utilization of subspecialty care in Otolaryngology. Level of Evidence: IV Abstract : We used a new data mining process to review charts at our institution and retrieve encounter information from over 1.3 million patient visits to analyze patient demographic information for laryngology clinic visits for dysphonia evaluation. Utilization of tertiary laryngology services correlated with education, race and insurance status but not median income. We observed an increased utilization for dysphonia care in black adults and those with public insurance relative to the entire Otolaryngology clinic and other subspecialties in our department. These results, when considered alongside similar studies, highlight the roles that various social determinants and patient behaviors may play in utilization of tertiary laryngology care.