Disparities in use of laparoscopic hysterectomies: A nationwide analysis

Abstract Study Objective To determine patient and hospital characteristics that were associated with undergoing laparoscopic hysterectomy compared with abdominal hysterectomy. Design Canadian Task Force Classification II-3. Methods In this retrospective cohort study, we analyzed the 2010 Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project Nationwide Inpatient Sample database. All women who underwent laparoscopic or abdominal hysterectomy for either menorrhagia or leiomyoma were included based on International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision coding. A linear model with binomial distribution and logit link function was used to determine patient and hospital characteristics associated with hysterectomy approach. Main Results A total of 32 436 patients were included in this study. Of these, 32% patients underwent laparoscopic hysterectomies, and 67% underwent abdominal hysterectomies. With regard to patient characteristics, women younger than 35 years old were more likely to undergo laparoscopic hysterectomy when compared with each of the other age categories (p Conclusions Despite the increased popularity of and training in laparoscopic hysterectomies, there remains an obvious disparity in its delivery with regard to patient and hospital characteristics. Further investigation is needed on the etiology of this disparity and interventions that may alleviate it.