Community-level Social Vulnerability and Cervical Cancer Mortality Among Young and Old Adults in the State of Alabama

Abstract

In addition to individual factors, differences in community-level factors impact mortality rates of cervical cancer (CC), especially in the Southeast United States, where CC one-year mortality is significantly higher than national average. This study investigated the association between community-level social vulnerability measured using the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Social Vulnerability Index (SVI) and overall and one-year CC mortality in Alabama. Retrospective cohort study using Alabama State Cancer Registry data from 2012 to 2021. Outcome of interest was mortality due to CC. Residential addresses were geocoded to determine SVI scores categorized into quartiles. Cox proportional hazards model was used to assess associations between SVI quartiles and overall and one-year CC mortality adjusting for age at diagnosis, race, marital status, and insurance status. Further, CC mortality in younger adults (≤50 years) was compared with older adults (> 50 years). A total of 1,325 women with CC were included in the study. The median age at diagnosis was 49 years (IQR: 39–62) and 69.73% were White. Median follow-up time was 9 months (IQR: 5–17). Among older adults, we observed statistically significant association between higher SVI quartiles and overall mortality (Q4: aHR 1.86; 95% CI 1.15, 3.01; p = 0.012] and one-year mortality (Q3: aHR 2.66; 95% CI 1.34, 5.29; p = 0.005; Q4: aHR 2.45; 95% CI 1.18, 5.08; p = 0.016). This study highlights the role of community factors in CC mortality among older women. Community-level strategies are needed to reduce the burden of CC mortality in Alabama and other high-risk regions.