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Racial/ethnic, socioeconomic, and geographic survival disparities in adolescents and young adults with primary central nervous system tumors
Author(s) -
Puthenpura Vidya,
Canavan Maureen E.,
Poynter Jenny N.,
Roth Michael,
Pashankar Farzana D.,
Jones Beth A.,
Marks Asher M.
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
pediatric blood and cancer
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.116
H-Index - 105
eISSN - 1545-5017
pISSN - 1545-5009
DOI - 10.1002/pbc.28970
Subject(s) - medicine , hazard ratio , socioeconomic status , proportional hazards model , demography , ethnic group , cohort , retrospective cohort study , cohort study , rurality , epidemiology , confidence interval , gerontology , environmental health , population , rural area , pathology , sociology , anthropology
Background Disparities in survival by race/ethnicity, socioeconomic status (SES), and geography in adolescent and young adult (AYA) patients with central nervous system (CNS) tumors have not been well studied. Procedure A retrospective cohort study utilizing the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database was conducted for AYA patients diagnosed with primary CNS tumors. Adjusted hazard ratios (aHR) were calculated using a multivariate Cox proportional hazard model to evaluate the association between race/ethnicity, SES, rurality, and hazard of death. Results All minority groups showed an increased hazard of death with greatest disparities in the high‐grade glioma cohort. Lower SES was associated with an increased hazard of death in non‐Hispanic White (NHW) patients (aHR 1.12; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.01–1.24), non‐Hispanic Black (NHB) patients (aHR 1.34; 95% CI 1.00–1.80), and patients aged 25–29 years (aHR 1.29; 95% CI 1.07–1.55). Mediation analysis showed an indirect effect of SES on the effect of race/ethnicity on the hazard of death only among NHB patients, with SES accounting for 33.7% of the association between NHB and hazard of death. Rurality was associated with an increased hazard of death for patients in the lowest SES tertile (aHR 1.31; 95% CI 1.08–1.59) and NHW patients (aHR 1.20; 95% CI 1.08–1.34). Conclusions Patients identified as a racial/ethnic minority, patients with a lower SES, and patients residing in rural areas had an increased hazard of death. Further studies are needed to understand and address the biological, psychosocial, societal, and economic factors that impact AYA neuro‐oncology patients at highest risk of experiencing poorer outcomes.