Disadvantage of men living alone participating in Radiation Therapy Oncology Group head and neck trials.
OBJECTIVE
This study evaluated whether males without partners were disadvantaged for survival in Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG) head and neck cancer clinical trials.


METHODS
Patients treated on three RTOG trials were studied. The Cox proportional hazards model was used to determine if sex and the interaction between sex and marital/partner status were independent prognostic variables for overall survival controlling for Karnofsky performance status, tumor stage, nodal stage, primary site, and protocol treatment.


RESULTS
A total of 1,901 patients (1,509 men) were entered onto the three RTOG trials, with 1,822 (1,438 men) analyzable patients. Prognostic variables independent of disease-related variables for survival in multivariate analyses restricted to men were age, marital/partner status, and income.


CONCLUSIONS
The apparent disadvantage of unpartnered men is striking, even after controlling for disease and other demographic variables. Possible explanations could easily be tested in observational studies, leading to evaluation of simple interventions to improve their outcome.
Konski
Andre A
AA
Department of Radiation Oncology, Fox Chase Cancer Center, Philadelphia, PA 19111, USA. andre.konski@fccc.edu
Pajak
Thomas F
TF
Movsas
Benjamin
B
Coyne
James
J
Harris
Jonathan
J
Gwede
Clement
C
Garden
Adam
A
Spencer
Sharon
S
Jones
Christopher
C
Watkins-Bruner
Deborah
D
D000368:Aged; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D019583:Dose Fractionation, Radiation; D005260:Female; D006258:Head and Neck Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality* / Q000473:pathology / Q000532:radiotherapy*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D017533:Marital Status; D008875:Middle Aged; D015337:Multicenter Studies as Topic; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011379:Prognosis; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; D012737:Sex Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D016019:Survival Analysis