Introduction: Nearly 25% of women experience pelvic floor disorders (PFDs), with a significant impact on quality of life. Prior studies suggest mixed results in PFD prevalence and severity by race/ethnicity. South Florida has a Hispanic minority-majority population with diverse socioeconomic backgrounds, creating a unique opportunity to explore racial/ethnic disparities. Our aim is to characterize the prevalence and severity of PFDs in different healthcare settings. Methods: Recruitment began in June 2022 using the following clinical settings: private urogynecology (UG) clinics at our institution, urology clinics at our public safety-net hospital (SNH), and community outreach mobile clinic (MC). We used the Urinary Distress Index-6 (UDI), Pelvic Organ Prolapse Distress Inventory-6 (POPDI), and Female Genitourinary Pain Index (GUPI) to identify patients with stress urinary incontinence (SUI), overactive bladder (OAB), and chronic pelvic pain syndrome (CPPS). Disease severity was defined by using a standard cutoff for UDI or greater than the third quartile for POPDI and GUPI. Logistic regression was performed in R (V4.1.1). Results: Of the 107 participants, half identified as Hispanic, and half were recruited from UG clinics. Overall, self-reported PFDs included SUI in 45.8%, OAB in 73.8%, and CPPS in 43.9% of women (Table 1). We found that Hispanic women were 1.6 more likely to have severe UDI scores (p < 0.001) and 1.3 times more likely to report OAB symptoms (p = 0.005), compared to Black women. We report no differences in rates of SUI and CPPS based on race/ethnicity. Private UG patients were 1.6 times more likely to have severe UDI scores (p < 0.001), 1.4 times more likely to report OAB symptoms (p < 0.001), and 1.2 times more likely to have severe POPDI scores (p = 0.03), compared to MC patients. Conclusions: In our study, Hispanic women were more likely to report overactive bladder and more severe symptoms than Black women; however, stress incontinence, prolapse and pelvic pain were similar between race/ethnicity. Patients seeking care at UG clinics had a higher prevalence of overactive bladder and severe urinary distress scores, as expected. Our results build upon the work exploring PFDs among minorities and diverse socioeconomic backgrounds as relates to location of healthcare access. SOURCE OF Funding: Urology Care Foundation Research Scholar Award 2021 to RS.
