Frailty in patients with ovarian cancer and the role of healthcare access, race, and ethnicity

Ovarian cancer has poor 5-year survival, particularly among non-Hispanic (NH) Black patients. Efforts to identify patients at high-risk of functional limitations and frailty may improve outcomes. In this study, we examined how healthcare access (HCA) and race/ethnicity relate to frailty among patients with ovarian cancer. We identified Hispanic, NH Black, and NH White patients diagnosed at ages ≥6 5 years with ovarian cancer between 2009 and 2015 using SEER-Medicare. Log-binomial regression was used to estimate prevalence ratios (PRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for the association between HCA and race/ethnicity with pre- or post-diagnosis frailty, adjusting for age and comorbidities. A total of 6041 patients with ovarian cancer were included, including 91.8% NH White, 6.6% NH Black, and 1.7% Hispanic. Pre-diagnosis, 14.7% of patients were defined as frail (NH White: 14.3%; NH Black: 17.9%; Hispanic: 20.8%). Post-diagnosis, frailty prevalence increased to 58.8% (NH White: 58.2%; NH Black: 65.2%; Hispanic: 70.2%). No statistically significant associations were observed between race/ethnicity and pre- or post-diagnosis frailty in fully adjusted models. After adjustment for patient characteristics and healthcare accessibility and availability, higher healthcare affordability was associated with a decreased prevalence of pre-diagnosis frailty (PR: 0.91, 95% CI: 0.8 5, 0.98). Patients with ovarian cancer have a high prevalence of frailty after diagnosis, particularly NH Black and Hispanic patients. Improving healthcare affordability may prevent or help manage frailty in Medicare patients, improve receipt of cancer treatment, and increase cancer survival. •This study examined how healthcare access and race/ethnicity are related to frailty in ovarian cancer patients.•Prior to diagnosis, about 15% of patients were defined as frail, which increased to nearly 60% in the year after diagnosis.•Higher healthcare affordability was associated with a reduced prevalence of frailty prior to diagnosis.