Magnitude of persistent poverty and cervical cancer incidence, stage at diagnosis, and mortality

Abstract

Socioeconomically disadvantaged counties exhibit higher cervical cancer incidence and poorer survival. However, the specific impact of the magnitude of persistent poverty on these outcomes remains largely unexamined. Using national cancer registry data, we observed that women living in persistent poverty counties who have experienced extreme poverty (≥40% poverty) have more than 1.5 times higher cervical cancer incidence and twice the mortality rate as women who lived in nonpersistent poverty counties. Furthermore, stage-specific incidence was consistently higher in persistent poverty counties across localized, regional, and distant diagnoses. Five-year mortality for localized cervical cancer diagnoses was nearly twice as high in extreme poverty counties (11% vs 6%, 2-sided P = .03). These findings highlight substantial disparities in cervical cancer outcomes associated with increasing magnitude of persistent poverty and underscore the need for targeted interventions in economically vulnerable communities to reduce disparities and achieve cervical cancer elimination goals.