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Economic status and survivorship in digestive system cancers
Author(s) -
Chirikos Thomas N.,
Horner Ronnie D.
Publication year - 1985
Publication title -
cancer
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.052
H-Index - 304
eISSN - 1097-0142
pISSN - 0008-543X
DOI - 10.1002/1097-0142(19850701)56:1<210::aid-cncr2820560136>3.0.co;2-e
Subject(s) - survivorship curve , medicine , confounding , rectum , cancer , colorectal cancer , proportional hazards model , disease , demography , oncology , sociology
This study investigates economic differentials in cancer survival in a sample of 1180 white men, focusing in particular on the relationship between income level and survivorship in the various subsites comprising the digestive system cancer category. Using the Cox proportional hazards model to control for confounding variables, the economic status‐survivorship relationship is estimated for several subgroupings of primary malignancies. The results show significant variation in this relationship across different cancer sites, with a pronounced effect observed in carcinomas of the small intestine, peritoneum and, especially, colon and rectum. High‐income patients with these malignancies had a significantly lower risk of dying from the disease ( P < 0.05) than either their middle‐ or lower‐income counterparts, controlling for age, stage, and initial course of treatment. Differences in immunologic status, tumor characteristics, and follow‐up treatment may account for these economic effects.