Effects of race and socioeconomic status on survival of 1,332 black, Hispanic, and white women with breast cancer.
BACKGROUND
A survival disadvantage for black women with breast cancer, which persists after controlling for stage of the disease, has been reported. This study investigates the effects of race and socioeconomic status (SES) on breast cancer survival after controlling for age, stage, histology, and type of treatment.


METHODS
Kaplan-Meier and Cox proportional hazards models were used to analyze the interaction between race and SES in predicting survival in a sample of 163 black, 205 Hispanic and 964 white women with breast cancer treated at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center a (1987-1991).


RESULTS
The results of univariate and multivariate analyses indicate that race was not a significant predictor of survival after adjusting for SES and other confounding factors such as demographic and disease characteristics. SES remained a significant predictor of survival after all adjustments were made. There was no evidence of differences in type of treatment by race or SES if adjustments were made for stage.


CONCLUSIONS
These results suggest that institutional factors, such as access to treatment, do not explain survival differences by race or SES. Other factors associated with low SES, such as life-style and behavior, may affect survival.
Franzini
L
L
Health Policy Institute, University of Texas School of Public Health, Houston 77030, USA.
Williams
A F
AF
Franklin
J
J
Singletary
S E
SE
Theriault
R L
RL
D001741:Black or African American; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality*; D005260:Female; D006630:Hispanic or Latino; D006801:Humans; D044469:Racial Groups; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D015996:Survival Rate; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D044465:White People