Environmental Stressors Suffered by Women with Gynecological Cancers in the Aftermath of Hurricanes Irma and María in Puerto Rico

Pablo A. Méndez-Lázaro, Yanina M. Bernhardt, William A. Calo, Andrea M. Pacheco Díaz, Sandra I. García-Camacho, Mirza Rivera-Lugo, Edna Acosta-Pérez, Naydi Pérez and Ana P. Ortiz-Martínez
Additional contact information
Pablo A. Méndez-Lázaro: Environmental Health Department, Graduate School of Public Health, Medical Sciences Campus, University of Puerto Rico, San Juan 00921, Puerto Rico
Yanina M. Bernhardt: Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences, University of Puerto Rico Comprehensive Cancer Center, San Juan 00936, Puerto Rico
William A. Calo: Department of Public Health Sciences, Penn State College of Medicine, Hershey, PA 17033, USA
Andrea M. Pacheco Díaz: Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences, University of Puerto Rico Comprehensive Cancer Center, San Juan 00936, Puerto Rico
Sandra I. García-Camacho: Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences, University of Puerto Rico Comprehensive Cancer Center, San Juan 00936, Puerto Rico
Mirza Rivera-Lugo: Center for Evaluation and Sociomedical Research, Graduate School of Public Health, Medical Sciences Campus, University of Puerto Rico, San Juan 00921, Puerto Rico
Edna Acosta-Pérez: Center for Evaluation and Sociomedical Research, Graduate School of Public Health, Medical Sciences Campus, University of Puerto Rico, San Juan 00921, Puerto Rico
Naydi Pérez: Hispanic Alliance for Clinical and Translational Research, Medical Sciences Campus, University of Puerto Rico, San Juan 00921, Puerto Rico
Ana P. Ortiz-Martínez: Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences, University of Puerto Rico Comprehensive Cancer Center, San Juan 00936, Puerto Rico

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 21, 1-16

Abstract: Background: Hurricanes are the immediate ways that people experience climate impacts in the Caribbean. These events affect socio-ecological systems and lead to major disruptions in the healthcare system, having effects on health outcomes. In September 2017, Puerto Rico (PR) and the United States Virgin Islands (USVI) experienced one of the most catastrophic hurricane seasons in recent history (Hurricane Irma was a Category 5 and Hurricane María was a Category 4 when they hit PR). Objective: This study examines environmental stressors experienced by women with gynecologic (GYN) cancers from PR and USVI who received oncologic cancer care in PR, in the aftermath of the hurricanes. Methods: A descriptive qualitative study design was used to obtain rich information for understanding the context, barriers, knowledge, perspectives, risks, vulnerabilities, and attitudes associated to these hurricanes. We performed focus groups among GYN cancer patients ( n = 24) and key-informant interviews ( n = 21) among health-care providers and administrators. Interviews were conducted from December 2018–April 2019. Results: Environmental health stressors such as lack of water, heat and uncomfortable temperatures, air pollution (air quality), noise pollution, mosquitos, and rats ranked in the top concerns among cancer patients and key-informants. Conclusions: These findings are relevant to cancer patients, decision-makers, and health providers facing extreme events and disasters in the Caribbean. Identifying environmental secondary stressors and the most relevant cascading effects is useful for decision-makers so that they may address and mitigate the effects of hurricanes on public health and cancer care.

Keywords: extreme weather events; cancer patients; gynecological cancer; vulnerable populations; environmental stressors; Puerto Rico (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/21/11183/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/21/11183/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:21:p:11183-:d:664043

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().