摘要：Significant racial, socioeconomic, and geographic disparities exist nationwide in cancer screenings, treatments, and outcomes. Differences in health and social service provision and utilization may contribute to or exacerbate these disparities. We evaluated the composition and structure of a referral network of organizations providing services to underserved cancer patients in an urban area in 2007. We observed a need for increased awareness building among provider organizations, broader geographic coverage among organizations, and increased utilization of tobacco cessation and financial assistance services. Racial disparities exist in screening, treatment, and outcomes for breast, 1 – 6 colon, 7 lung, 8 , 9 and prostate cancers. 10 – 12 These disparities are often partially attributed to socioeconomic status 1 , 7 , 13 – 17 and to geographic factors such as the proximity of and access to quality health care facilities. 14 , 17 – 21 Disparities are manifested in a higher number of unmet needs, 22 – 24 along with differences in access to care, 4 , 13 , 18 , 25 utilization of health services, 14 , 18 , 19 and types of treatment. 11 , 19 Providing comprehensive and accessible services to cancer patients without resources requires understanding of cancer service referral networks for the underserved. 26 – 28 We used novel statistical network modeling techniques to examine the cancer services network for underserved patients in St Louis, Missouri. 7 , 29 – 33
