Evaluating Outcomes Disparities in the Hispanic Cystic Fibrosis Population: A Need for a National Analysis

Health Disparities among adults cared for at an urban cystic fibrosis program

BACKGROUND

Evidence is conflicting regarding differential health outcomes in racial and ethnic minorities with cystic fibrosis (CF), a rare genetic disease affecting approximately 28,000 Americans. We performed a cross-sectional analysis of health outcomes in Black/Latinx patients compared with non-Hispanic Caucasian patients cared for in a CF center in New York City. Adult patients enrolled in the CF Foundation Patient Registry at the Columbia University Adult CF Program and seen at least once during 2019 were included. Health metrics were compared between Black/Latinx and non-Hispanic Caucasian patients.

RESULTS

262 patients were eligible. 39 patients (15%) identified as Black/Latinx or non-Hispanic Caucasian. Descriptive statistics are reported with mean (standard deviation). Current age was 35.9 (13.3) years for non-Hispanic Caucasian and 32.0 (9.3) years for Black/Latinx patients (p = 0.087). Age of diagnosis did not differ between groups; 9.56 (15.96) years versus 11.59 (15.8) years for non-Hispanic Caucasian versus Black/Latinx respectively (p = 0.464). Pulmonary function, measured as mean forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) was 70.6 (22.5) percent predicted in non-Hispanic Caucasian versus 59.50 (27.9) percent predicted in Black/Latinx patients (p = 0.010). Number of visits to the CF clinic were similar between groups. When controlled for age, gender, co-morbidities, median income, and insurance status, there was a continued association between minority status and lower FEV1.

CONCLUSIONS

Minorities with CF have significantly lower pulmonary function, the major marker of survival, than non-Hispanic Caucasians, even when controlled for a variety of demographic and socioeconomic factors that are known to affect health status in CF. Significant health disparities based on race and ethnicity exist at a single CF center in New York City, despite apparent similarities in access to guideline based care at an accredited CF Center. This data confirms the importance of design of culturally appropriate preventative and management strategies to better understand how to direct interventions to this vulnerable population with a rare disease.

Disparities in Mortality of Hispanic Patients with Cystic Fibrosis in the United States. A National and Regional Cohort Study

RATIONALE

Patients of Hispanic origin with cystic fibrosis (CF) are the largest growing minority, representing 8.5% of patients with CF in the United States. No national survival analysis of this group has ever been undertaken.

OBJECTIVES

We aimed to determine whether Hispanic ethnicity within the CF population is associated with worse outcomes and whether any geographic differences exist.

METHODS

Using U.S. Cystic Fibrosis Foundation Patient Registry data from 2010 to 2014, we performed a retrospective cohort analysis comparing survival rates between Hispanics and non-Hispanics using Kaplan-Meier and Cox regression analysis. A subject's residence was categorized into geographic regions based on U.S. Census Bureau data: Northeast, Midwest, West, and South.

MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS

A total of 29,637 patients were included in the study; 2,493 identified themselves as Hispanic. Hispanics had a lower survival probability overall, with a mean age of death of 22.4 ± 9.9 years compared with non-Hispanics of 28.1 ± 10.0 years (P < 0.0001). Multivariate Cox proportional hazards modeling revealed that Hispanic patients with CF had a 1.27 times higher rate of death compared with non-Hispanics (95% confidence interval, 1.05-1.53) after adjusting for covariates including age, sex, genetic mutations, bacterial cultures, lung function, body mass index, use of CF respiratory therapies, low socioeconomic status, pancreatic enzyme use, and CF-related diabetes. When analyzed by region, Hispanics in the Midwest, Northeast, and West had shorter median survivals compared with non-Hispanics, which was not demonstrated in the South.

CONCLUSIONS

Patients with CF of Hispanic origin have a higher mortality rate than non-Hispanic patients with CF. This pattern was seen in the Midwest, Northeast, and West but not in the South.