title: Socio-economic status and survival from breast cancer for young, Australian, urban women.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To estimate the association between measures of socio-economic status (SES) and breast cancer (BC) survival for young, urban Australian women.
  
  
  METHODS
  We used a population-based sample of 1,029 women followed prospectively for a median of 7.9 years. SES was defined by education and area of residence. Hazard ratios (HRs) associated with SES measures were estimated for (i) distant recurrence (DR) and (ii) all-cause mortality as end-points.
  
  
  RESULTS
  HRs for area of residence were not significantly different from unity, with or without adjustment for age at diagnosis and education level. The univariable HR estimate of DR for women with university education compared with women with incomplete high school education was 1.51 (95% CI = 1.08 - 2.13, p = 0.02), which reduced to 1.20 (95% CI = 0.85 - 1.72, p = 0.3) after adjusting for age at diagnosis and area of residence. Adjusting for prognostic factors differentially distributed across SES groups did not substantially alter the association between survival and SES.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Among young, urban Australian women there is no association between SES and BC survival.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This lack of estimates of association may be partly attributed to universal access to adequate breast cancer care in urban areas.
authors: Centre for Molecular, Environmental, Genetic and Analytic Epidemiology, School of Population Health, The University of Melbourne, Orygen Youth Health Research Centre, Centre for Youth Mental Health, The University of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
authors: Katherine I
authors: KI
authors: Morley
authors: Roger L
authors: RL
authors: Milne
authors: Graham G
authors: GG
authors: Giles
authors: Melissa C
authors: MC
authors: Southey
authors: Carmel
authors: C
authors: Apicella
authors: John L
authors: JL
authors: Hopper
authors: Kelly-Anne
authors: KA
authors: Phillips
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D001315:Australia / Q000453:epidemiology; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000401:mortality; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D055088:Early Detection of Cancer; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D019538:Health Care Surveys; D054625:Healthcare Disparities; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008875:Middle Aged; D011159:Population Surveillance; D012111:Residence Characteristics; D012307:Risk Factors; D012923:Social Class; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D016019:Survival Analysis; D014505:Urban Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D055815:Young Adult