TY - JOUR
T1 - Diffusion of breast conserving surgery in medical communities
AU - Jerome-D'Emilia, Bonnie
AU - Begun, James W.
PY - 2005/1
Y1 - 2005/1
N2 - Excluding skin cancers, breast cancer is the most common form of cancer in women. Due to an increased focus on early detection, many more cases of breast cancer are now diagnosed at an early stage, which makes the use of breast conserving surgery (BCS) an efficacious and often more desirable treatment choice than mastectomy. An analysis of the variation in the use of BCS in the United States was performed using data from the years 1988 and 1994, and stratifying hospitals on the basis of teaching status. In both 1988 and 1994, BCS was highest in academic teaching hospitals and lowest in community hospitals. This finding is interpreted within the framework of classical diffusion theory. Social and cultural norms in local medical communities have a strong effect on the degree to which innovations diffuse rapidly or not. This analysis is useful in the understanding of geographic and hospital-based variations in treatment for early stage breast cancer and other illnesses that have long and strongly held traditions of treatment.
AB - Excluding skin cancers, breast cancer is the most common form of cancer in women. Due to an increased focus on early detection, many more cases of breast cancer are now diagnosed at an early stage, which makes the use of breast conserving surgery (BCS) an efficacious and often more desirable treatment choice than mastectomy. An analysis of the variation in the use of BCS in the United States was performed using data from the years 1988 and 1994, and stratifying hospitals on the basis of teaching status. In both 1988 and 1994, BCS was highest in academic teaching hospitals and lowest in community hospitals. This finding is interpreted within the framework of classical diffusion theory. Social and cultural norms in local medical communities have a strong effect on the degree to which innovations diffuse rapidly or not. This analysis is useful in the understanding of geographic and hospital-based variations in treatment for early stage breast cancer and other illnesses that have long and strongly held traditions of treatment.
KW - Breast cancer treatment USA
KW - Breast conserving surgery
KW - Diffusion theory
KW - Medical innovation
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U2 - 10.1016/j.socscimed.2004.04.022
DO - 10.1016/j.socscimed.2004.04.022
M3 - Article
C2 - 15482874
AN - SCOPUS:5144234638
SN - 0277-9536
VL - 60
SP - 143
EP - 151
JO - Social Science and Medicine
JF - Social Science and Medicine
IS - 1
ER -