Transportation considerations in underserved patient populations receiving multidisciplinary head and neck cancer care

Background: Underinsured patients with advanced head and neck cancer experience worse outcomes compared to their well-insured peers. Methods: Retrospective logistic regression analysis testing associations between demographic, geospatial, transportation, disease, and treatment factors in 50 government insured or uninsured patients receiving curative-intent, multidisciplinary cancer care. Results: Forty percent of patients missed at least one treatment or surveillance appointment within the first year. Thirty-two percent reported using public transportation; 42% relied on caregivers. Patients who used public transportation were 3.3 and 4.6 times more likely to miss treatment (p = 0.001) and surveillance (p = 0.014) visits, respectively. The median one-way travel duration for such routes was 52 minutes (range: 16-232 minutes) and included 0.7 miles of walking. Physical distance to care was not associated with transportation type, missed appointments, or disease recurrence. Conclusions: Underserved, underinsured patient populations face significant logistical challenges with transportation, which may be mitigated by alternative models of care delivery, such as multidisciplinary clinics.