Healthcare disparities in cardio oncology: patients receive same level of surveillance regardless of race at a safety net hospital

Abstract

Background: Cardiotoxicity remains a dreaded complication for patients undergoing chemotherapy with human epidermal growth factor (HER)-2 receptor antagonists and anthracyclines. Though many studies have looked at racial disparities in heart failure patients, minimal data is present for the cardio-oncology population. Methods: We queried the echocardiogram database at a safety net hospital, defined by a high proportion of patients with Medicaid or no insurance, for patients who received HER2 receptor antagonists and/or anthracyclines from January 2016 to December 2018. Patient demographics, clinical characteristics, and treatment outcomes were collected. Based on US census data in 2019, home ZIP codes were used to group patients into quartiles based on median annual household income. The primary end point studied was referral rate to cardiology for patients undergoing chemotherapy. Results: We identified 151 patients who had echocardiograms and also underwent treatment with HER2 receptor antagonists and/or anthracyclines, of which 70 (46.4%) were referred to the cardio-oncology program at our institution. Basic demographics were similar, but white patients were more likely to live in ZIP codes with higher income quartiles (p<0.00001). Comparing between racial groups, there was no statistical difference in the percentage of patients that had a reduction in ejection fraction (EF) (p=0.78). There was no statistical difference between racial groups in the number of cardiology or oncology appointments attended, number of appointments cancelled, or average number of echocardiograms received. A logistic regression model was created using race, age, gender, insurance, income quartile by home ZIP code, cardiomyopathy risk factors (hypertension, hyperlipidemia, diabetes mellitus, smoking, family history, age >65), cancer type, cancer stage, and chemotherapy. This model found that there was an increased referral rate among patients from higher income quartiles (p=0.004), patients with a history of hypertension (p=0.0001), and patients with breast cancer (p=0.04). Conclusions: The results of this study suggest that patients of our cardio-oncology population at a safety net hospital receive the same level of surveillance and treatment, and develop drop in ejection fraction at similar rates regardless of their race. However, patients that reside in ZIP codes associated with higher income quartiles do trend towards increased referrals.

Racial and rural–urban disparities in cardiovascular risk factors among patients with head and neck cancer in a clinical cohort

“…This remarkable increase in incident hypertension at 1‐year post HNSCC diagnosis is not surprising in patients with cancer, and could be explained by the concept of “onco‐hypertension,” which focuses on hypertension following anticancer therapy and inadequate management of hypertension in patients with cancer 18,31 . Even though black patients with breast cancer are reported to be more likely to receive antihypertensive medications post cancer‐therapy, 32 we did not observe racial differences in incident hypertension in patients with HNSCC. Differences in cancer anatomic site, cancer treatment choice, and sex could partly explain the differences in hypertension by race, between breast and HNSCC patients.…”