Racial Disparities in Head and Neck Oncology: The Effects of Hurricane Katrina

Results Our demographic yielded a mean age of 62.6 with 36.4% African Americans (AA) and 54.5% whites. 78.4% of patients were male and 21.6% female. Racial disparities were noted across all categories, with 31.8% of African Americans enrolled in Medicaid versus 18.9% of whites [p=.01]. 84.4% of AA presented with advanced stage disease versus 64.6% of whites [p=.04]. 6.2% of AA used the emergency room as their route of presentation compared to 2.1% of whites [p=.01].
40.6% of AA hailed from an area with 4.7 – 16.5 feet of flooding, compared to 18.8% of whites [p=.06].