Abstract
Men of African ancestry (MAA) in the U.S. and the Caribbean have the highest documented rates of diagnosis and death from prostate cancer (PCa) in the world. The reason for this disparity is unclear and likely due to multiple factors including increasing age, African ancestry, and sociocultural determinants of health. The goal of this research was to quantify the prostate cancer mortality rate in MAA in South Florida and explore sociocultural factors that contribute to prostate cancer disparity in the U.S.
A quantitative, non-experimental, descriptive study design was used to identify differences in PCa mortality in three groups of MAA. Specifically, stratified samples were used based on single ancestry of African, and nativity of U.S., Haitian, and Jamaican born. Statistically significant differences were noted in resident PCa deaths in MAA in the South Florida region. The intersection between health disparities and sociocultural factors such as structural racism and racialization in the U.S., and barriers to healthcare were also explored.
Study results confirm death from PCa in MAA in South Florida represents a health disparity when examined in aggregate by ancestry and disaggregate by nativity and vary by nativity and geography. The results of this study show the utility of identifying differences in the PCa mortality rates in MAA in South Florida in disaggregate by nativity which to our knowledge has not been done before.
Future research should explore this topic further by voluntarily expanding the ethnicity descriptors used in the research to include those related to African ancestry. Doing this has the potential to provide an additional meaningful epidemiologic descriptor and indicator for sociocultural determinants of health that is rarely explored.