Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Comparative Study
. 2004 Oct;94(10):1795-9.
doi: 10.2105/ajph.94.10.1795.

Changes in racial differences in use of medical procedures and diagnostic tests among elderly persons: 1986-1997

José J Escarce  1 , Thomas G McGuire
Affiliations
Comparative Study

Changes in racial differences in use of medical procedures and diagnostic tests among elderly persons: 1986-1997

José J Escarce et al. Am J Public Health. 2004 Oct.

Abstract

Objectives: We used 1997 Medicare data to replicate an earlier study that used data from 1986 to examine racial differences in usage of specific medical procedures or tests among elderly persons.

Methods: We used 1997 physician claims data to obtain a random sample of 5% of Medicare beneficiaries aged 65 years and older. We used this sample to study 30 procedures and tests that were analyzed in the 1986 study, as well as several new procedures that became more widely used in the early 1990s.

Results: Racial differences remain in the rates of use of these procedures; in general, Blacks have lower rates of use than do Whites. Between 1986 and 1997, the ratio of White to Black use moved in favor of Blacks for all but 4 of the established procedures studied.

Conclusions: The White-Black gap in health care use under Medicare is narrowing.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Mayberry R., Mili F, Ofili E. Racial and ethnic differences in access to medical care. Med Care Res Rev. 2000;57:108–145. - PubMed
    1. Institute of Medicine. Unequal Treatment: Confronting Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Health Care. Washington, DC: National Academy of Sciences; 2002.
    1. Gornick ME. A decade of research on disparities in Medicare utilization: lessons for the health and health care of vulnerable men. Am J Public Health. 2003;93:753–759. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Arday SL, Arday DR, Monroe S, Zhang J. HCFA’s racial and ethnic data: current accuracy and recent improvements. Health Care Financing Rev. 2000;21:107–116. - PMC - PubMed
    1. McBean AM, Gornick ME. Differences in the rates of procedures performed in hospitals for Medicare beneficiaries. Health Care Financing Rev. 1994;15:77–90. - PMC - PubMed

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources