Socioeconomic and educational factors interference in the prognosis for glioblastoma multiform.
BACKGROUND
To compare the survival of glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) patients operated on at public hospital with that of patients operated on at the private hospitals.


METHODS
We carried out a retrospective analysis of the patients' medical records, the surgical reports and the pre- and post-operative images of patients with a histopathological confirmed adult supratentorial GBM. Sixty-three patients were treated at public hospital and twenty-one at private hospitals.


RESULTS
The present study revealed that the survival of patients treated in private hospitals was statistically superior to that of patients treated in public hospitals (11.9 vs. 7.7).


CONCLUSIONS
Our study advances towards the confirmation of the hypothesis that socioeconomic and educational factors influence the Karnofsky Performance Score (KPS) and the performance of radiotherapy treatment, with negative effects over the GBM patients' survival.
Servidores do Estado Hospital, Neurosurgery, Rua Jardim Botânico, 600, Jardim Botânico, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. jclynch@globo.com
Jose Carlos
JC
Lynch
Leonardo
L
Welling
Claudia
C
Escosteguy
Alessandra G L
AG
Pereira
Ricardo
R
Andrade
Celestino
C
Pereira
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D005909:Glioblastoma / Q000401:mortality* / Q000532:radiotherapy / Q000601:surgery; D006760:Hospitalization; D016304:Hospitals, Private; D006779:Hospitals, Public; D006801:Humans; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D015173:Supratentorial Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality* / Q000532:radiotherapy / Q000601:surgery; D055815:Young Adult