Racial and Geographic Disparities in Late-Stage Prostate Cancer Diagnosis in Florida

Disparities in prostate cancer diagnosis among racial/ethnic groups and across Florida were mapped for the period 1996-2002 and their relationship with putative factors (individual, census tract and county level) was investigated using multilevel modeling and contingency analysis. More counties had higher rates of late-stage diagnosis for Black men than for White men and the location of these racial disparities changed with time. An important finding was the substantially larger correlation between county-level rates for Black and White men in 2002 relatively to 1996, which suggests a convergence in their spatial patterns. Major significant factors for late-stage diagnosis included lack of insurance, low household income, smoking, not being married and presence of farm house. These findings should help the design of intervention programs to target counties with the greatest racial disparities in health outcomes. Additional analysis is needed to disentangle the observed racial/ethnic and geographic differences.