Impact of Socioeconomic Deprivation on Care Quality and Surgical Outcomes for Early-Stage Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer in United States Veterans

<b>Background</b>: Socioeconomic deprivation has been associated with higher lung cancer risk and mortality in non-Veteran populations. However, the impact of socioeconomic deprivation on outcomes for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in an integrated and equal-access healthcare system, such as the Veterans Health Administration (VHA), remains unclear. Hence, we investigated the impact of area-level socioeconomic deprivation on access to care and postoperative outcomes for early-stage NSCLC in United States Veterans. <b>Methods</b>: We conducted a retrospective cohort study of patients with clinical stage I NSCLC receiving surgical treatment in the VHA between 1 October 2006 and 30 September 2016. A total of 9704 Veterans were included in the study and assigned an area deprivation index (ADI) score, a measure of socioeconomic deprivation incorporating multiple poverty, education, housing, and employment indicators. We used multivariable analyses to evaluate the relationship between ADI and postoperative outcomes as well as adherence to guideline-concordant care quality measures (QMs) for stage I NSCLC in the preoperative (positron emission tomography [PET] imaging, appropriate smoking management, pulmonary function testing [PFT], and timely surgery [≤12 weeks after diagnosis]) and postoperative periods (appropriate surveillance imaging, smoking management, and oncology referral). <b>Results</b>: Compared to Veterans with low socioeconomic deprivation (ADI ≤ 50), those residing in areas with high socioeconomic deprivation (ADI > 75) were less likely to have timely surgery (multivariable-adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 0.832, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.732-0.945) and receive PET imaging (aOR 0.592, 95% CI 0.502-0.698) and PFT (aOR 0.816, 95% CI 0.694-0.959) prior to surgery. In the postoperative period, Veterans with high socioeconomic deprivation had an increased risk of 30-day readmission (aOR 1.380, 95% CI 1.103-1.726) and decreased odds of meeting all postoperative care QMs (aOR 0.856, 95% CI 0.750-0.978) compared to those with low socioeconomic deprivation. There was no association between ADI and overall survival (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR] 0.984, 95% CI 0.911-1.062) or cumulative incidence of cancer recurrence (aHR 1.047, 95% CI 0.930-1.179). <b>Conclusions</b>: Our results suggest that Veterans with high socioeconomic deprivation have suboptimal adherence to care QMs for stage I NSCLC yet do not have inferior long-term outcomes after curative-intent resection. Collectively, these findings demonstrate the efficacy of an integrated, equal-access healthcare system in mitigating disparities in lung cancer survival that are frequently present in other populations. Future VHA policies should continue to target increasing adherence to QMs and reducing postoperative readmission for socioeconomically disadvantaged Veterans with early-stage NSCLC.