Abstract C055: Hurricane floods and quality of life among gynecological cancer patients in Puerto Rico: A retrospective cohort study
Authors: Bolanos Amarilis , Garcia Sandra , Ramos-Cartagena Jeslie M. , Ortiz Ana Patricia , Cardona-Cordero Nancy R. 
Published: September 2024

INTRODUCTION. Previous studies show the devasting impacts of hurricanes on the health outcomes of cancer patients via treatment interruption. However, there is limited information on the impact of floods after the hurricanes on quality of life, within physical and mental domains, especially for island communities such as Puerto Rico which are at high-risk of these events. PURPOSE. In this study we aimed to assess the relationship between floods and quality of life of women diagnosed with gynecological cancers in Puerto Rico after the hurricane season of 2017. Methods. Women (n=271) with gynecological cancers recruited from a clinic-based sample in Puerto Rico were retrospectively interviewed between September 2019 and November 2020. After consenting, one-hour interviews were conducted over the phone to complete a comprehensive survey. This survey collected information on sociodemographic, clinical, lifestyles, and quality of life for all participants. Our primary outcome was quality of life experienced by participants considering the physical and mental domains 3 months after the occurrence of the hurricanes. Pearson’s Chi-square test and logistic regression models were performed using STATA. SUMMARY OF DATA. Participants were mostly 50 years old or older (78.8%), married (51.2%), employed or self-employed (30.4%), had low annual income (&lt;$20,000; 66.9%) and were well educated (41.2% hold a bachelor’s degree). A third of the participants (31%) reported physical distress before hurricanes, compared to 46% post hurricane. In terms of the mental domain, only 25% of participants reported mental distress before the hurricanes, compared to 59% post hurricane (p &lt;0.01). A slight difference in percentage was observed for the need of emotional and social support of the participants pre (92%) and post (93%) hurricane. Half of the participants (51.4%) experienced floods related to the hurricanes. On multivariable analysis adjusted by education, age, income, and history of gynecological cancers, we observed that participants who experienced flooding were more likely to report having physical (AOR, 1.88; 95% CI 1.08-3.25) and mental (AOR, 2.85; 95% CI 1.52-5.35) distress after the hurricanes in comparison to their counterparts. No statistically significant association was observed for other measures such as general health status or the need of emotional or social support. Conclusion. Floods significantly impacted the quality of life of gynecological cancer patients in Puerto Rico following hurricane seasons of 2017. These findings highlight the need to strengthen public infrastructure that will better protect the homes of inhabitants of Puerto Rico, especially cancer patients, when faced with hurricane disasters. Cancer patients already face many obstacles that make it difficult to cope with physical and mental distress, but flooding is a preventable risk that public infrastructure can alleviate. Further research is warranted to understand the duration of impact on quality of life and effects on overall general health, health outcomes, and mortality.

Citation Format: Amarilis Bolanos, Sandra Garcia, Jeslie M. Ramos-Cartagena, Ana Patricia Ortiz, Nancy R. Cardona-Cordero. Hurricane floods and quality of life among gynecological cancer patients in Puerto Rico: A retrospective cohort study [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 17th AACR Conference on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved; 2024 Sep 21-24; Los Angeles, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2024;33(9 Suppl):Abstract nr C055.