title: Socio-demographic factors in the prognosis of oral cancer patients.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Taichung Veterans General Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Yong-Kie
authors.initials: YK
authors.lastname: Wong
authors.forename: Wen-Chen
authors.initials: WC
authors.lastname: Tsai
authors.forename: Jin-Ching
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: Chiu-Kwan
authors.initials: CK
authors.lastname: Poon
authors.forename: Shou-Yee
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Chao
authors.forename: Ying-Lyung
authors.initials: YL
authors.lastname: Hsiao
authors.forename: Man-Yee
authors.initials: MY
authors.lastname: Chan
authors.forename: Chi-Sheng
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.forename: Chen-Chi
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Ching-Ping
authors.initials: CP
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Shih-An
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Liu
mesh_terms: 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