Socio-demographic factors in the prognosis of oral cancer patients.
The aim of this study was to determine the survival rate of oral cancer patients treated in a medical center in central Taiwan and to investigate whether socio-demographic factors influence their survival. We retrospectively reviewed 1010 chart records of oral cancer patients. Survival was analyzed by the Kaplan-Meier method and Cox proportional hazard model was used for investigating the relationship between socio-demographic factors and survival. The overall 5-year survival rate was 63.24%. Multivariate analysis revealed that those without religious belief tended to have higher probability of death than those who had religious belief (relative risk (RR): 2.057, p<0.001). In addition, those who were single, widow/widower or divorced/separated had a poorer prognosis than those who were married (RR: 1.528, p=0.008). Apart from clinical features, socio-demographic factors also significantly influenced the survival of oral cancer patients. Therefore, care providers should take socio-demographic issues into consideration aside from ordinary clinical health care.
Wong
Yong-Kie
YK
Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Taichung Veterans General Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan.
Tsai
Wen-Chen
WC
Lin
Jin-Ching
JC
Poon
Chiu-Kwan
CK
Chao
Shou-Yee
SY
Hsiao
Ying-Lyung
YL
Chan
Man-Yee
MY
Cheng
Chi-Sheng
CS
Wang
Chen-Chi
CC
Wang
Ching-Ping
CP
Liu
Shih-An
SA
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000401:mortality* / Q000473:pathology / Q000523:psychology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D017533:Marital Status; D008875:Middle Aged; D009062:Mouth Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality* / Q000473:pathology / Q000523:psychology; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011379:Prognosis; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D012067:Religion; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D018570:Risk Assessment; D015983:Selection Bias; D012923:Social Class; D016019:Survival Analysis