Nearly 72% of Black Patients with Gyn Cancer and COVID-19 Were Hospitalized for the Virus

Black patients younger than 65 years of age with gynecologic cancer and COVID-19 were five times more likely to require hospitalization compared to non-Blacks in the same age group, reports a new study. The findings of the study are published in the journal CANCER.

In the study of 193 patients treated at eight New York City hospitals, 71.6 percent of Black patients required hospitalization, compared with 46.0 percent of non-Black patients.

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‘The underlying causes of racial disparities are multifactorial and include limited access to healthcare. ’

Of the 34 patients (17.6 percent) who died from COVID-19, 14 (41.2 percent) of the patients were Black. Investigators found that the disparities in COVID-19 severity were driven by a higher prevalence of comorbidities among Black patients rather than aspects related to cancer or its treatment.

"The underlying causes of racial disparities are multifactorial and include limited access to healthcare, social determinants of health, racism, and discrimination. The COVID-19 pandemic has only heightened these and brought awareness," said senior author Bhavana Pothuri, MD, MS, of NYU Langone Health.

"It is critical we learn from this and address these longstanding differences in health outcomes among Black patients not just in gynecologic cancer, but across all disciplines."

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Source-Eurekalert

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