Inequalities in Risk Management in Prostate Cancer According to Multidimensional Poverty in Colombia

OBJECTIVES: To Determine the existence of inequities in risk management in prostate cancer according to multidimensional poverty in Colombia, during the year 2019.

METHODS: Ecological study. Information was taken on Risk Management indicators from “Cuenta de Alto Costo”, and on the Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) from the National Administrative Department of Statistics, for the country's departments. The correlation between each management indicator and the MPI was established, and a model was proposed using the Inequalities Index (IdI), with Epidat 3.2.

RESULTS: Discrepancies were found in Risk Management indicators between departments. The diagnosis opportunity was 155 days in Caldas and 21.1 days in Boyacá; Putumayo classified 100% of the subjects by Gleason Score, while Cauca classified 84.8%. The highest percentage of MPI was in La Guajira (48.8%) and the lowest in San Andrés (8.2%). A weak-negative correlation was found in most management indicators with MPI, and when constructing the IdI, La Guajira had values ≥0.5 in 3 scenarios, meanwhile Chocó and Putumayo in two.

CONCLUSIONS: Important differences were found that denote health inequities for comprehensive prostate cancer care in the different departments of the country.