Socioeconomic factors and the risk for sarcoma

Abstract

Sarcomas are a heterogeneous group of rare malignancies arising from mesenchymal tissue. Although several occupational exposures have been evaluated in association with sarcoma, little is known about the role of socioeconomic indicators such as education. Socioeconomic status has been found to be associated with risk of development of several types of cancers, primarily lung, gastric, and cervical cancers. We conducted a hospital-based case-control study to evaluate the association of socioeconomic level with the risk for sarcoma. A total of 371 incident cases of sarcoma were matched in terms of age, sex, and year of enrollment in the study with 742 cancer-free controls. Education and income levels were evaluated as the indicators of socioeconomic status. Higher education (college level) was associated with a significantly lower risk for sarcoma [odds ratio (OR)=0.48, 95% confidence interval (CI)=0.29-0.80], even after adjusting for important confounders. After stratifying by sex, significantly lower risk for sarcoma was observed among men who had college level education compared with men with a level of education of eighth grade or lower (OR=0.38, 95% CI=0.19-0.74). A significant association between education and the risk for sarcoma remained after stratifying by income (OR=0.49, 95% CI=0.28-0.86, among the low income group). When analyzed as a composite exposure, individuals with high education and high income status had significantly lower risk for sarcoma compared with those with low income and low education status (OR=0.41, 95% CI=0.23-0.71). Thus, socioeconomic factors may play a significant role in determining the risk for sarcoma and should be explored further to elucidate the underlying factors that may explain these sociodemographic inequalities related to sarcoma.

Quality of life, physical and mental status and contentment of patients with localized soft tissue or bone sarcoma: a questionnaire analysis

“…Our study showed a better psychical outcome in patients who contacted this service. Regarding the evaluation of a patient’s risk profile we were able to confirm some results from a study by Hampras et al 17 Most of the sarcoma patients had a low level of education, and most had attended secondary school (n=26).…”

The association between socioeconomic position and tumour size, grade, stage, and mortality in Danish sarcoma patients – A national, observational study from 2000 to 2013

“…A few studies have found that SEP is strongly related to risk of sarcoma [22][23][24]. Few studies have found that socioeconomic deprivation affects survival of sarcoma patients negatively [23,[25][26][27][28].…”

Community sociodemographics and rural hospital survival

“…Our findings also demonstrate that local sociodemographic factors are not only associated with health outcomes , but also with health care access in rural communities. There is already growing evidence of an association between sociodemographic factors and negative health outcomes 56–64 . Hospital closures lead to reduced access to health care, which in turn leads to increased risk of poor health outcomes and health disparities 65 .…”

“…There is already growing evidence of an association between sociodemographic factors and negative health outcomes. [56][57][58][59][60][61][62][63][64] Hospital closures lead to reduced access to health care, which in turn leads to increased risk of poor health outcomes and health disparities. 65 If sociodemographic factors are associated not only with health outcomes, but also with hospital closure--and, therefore, with health care access--there is a more intricate relationship between sociodemographic factors and health outcomes than previously acknowledged.…”