title: Influence of socioeconomic status on survival and clinical outcomes in patients with advanced gastric cancer after chemotherapy.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Socioeconomic inequalities are known to influence the survival of cancer patients due to differences in treatment modalities and disease extent at diagnosis. However, there are few studies regarding the influence of socioeconomic status on patient survival, especially after palliative chemotherapy for advanced gastric cancer.
  
  
  METHODS
  This retrospective study was performed on 138 advanced gastric cancer patients who received palliative chemotherapy. Demographic, socioeconomic, and cancer-related variables were analyzed according to education level. Effects of socioeconomic factors and cancer-related variables on patient survival were also evaluated.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In our study, higher education level (> 6 years of schooling; p = 0.01), disease control (p < 0.01), and a greater number of chemotherapeutic agents (≥ 5 drugs; p < 0.01) were associated with a significant increase in median survival. Multivariate analysis showed that a higher education level (hazard ratio (HR) 0.53; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.35-0.82; p < 0.01), disease control (HR 0.21; 95% CI 0.13-0.34), and total number of chemotherapeutic agents used (HR 0.44; 95% CI 0.26-0.73) were significantly associated with prolonged survival.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Among socioeconomic factors, only higher education level was associated with better survival. Increase in survival was also associated with clinical outcomes, including total number of chemotherapeutic agents used and disease control after chemotherapy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Ansan Hospital, Korea University Medical Center, Ansan, Korea.
authors.forename: In Keun
authors.initials: IK
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.forename: Jong Jin
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Hyun
authors.forename: Seung Young
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Sung Woo
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Jung
authors.forename: Ja Seol
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Koo
authors.forename: Jong Han
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Hyung Joon
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Yim
authors.forename: Sang Woo
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Lee
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D000971:Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010166:Palliative Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D015995:Prevalence; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013274:Stomach Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000401:mortality* / Q000523:psychology; D013534:Survival; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents