Socio-economic status and survival from breast cancer for young, Australian, urban women

TY - JOUR

T1 - Socio-economic status and survival from breast cancer for young, Australian, urban women

AU - Morley, Katherine I

AU - Milne, Roger L

AU - Giles, Graham G

AU - Southey, Melissa C

AU - Apicella, Carmel

AU - Hopper, John L

AU - Phillips, Kelly-Anne

PY - 2010/4

Y1 - 2010/4

N2 - 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. Implications: This lack of estimates of association may be partly attributed to universal access to adequate breast cancer care in urban areas.

AB - 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. Implications: This lack of estimates of association may be partly attributed to universal access to adequate breast cancer care in urban areas.

KW - Adult

KW - Age Factors

KW - Australia

KW - Breast Neoplasms

KW - Case-Control Studies

KW - Early Detection of Cancer

KW - Female

KW - Follow-Up Studies

KW - Health Care Surveys

KW - Healthcare Disparities

KW - Humans

KW - Incidence

KW - Interviews as Topic

KW - Middle Aged

KW - Population Surveillance

KW - Questionnaires

KW - Residence Characteristics

KW - Risk Factors

KW - Social Class

KW - Socioeconomic Factors

KW - Survival Analysis

KW - Urban Population

KW - Young Adult

U2 - 10.1111/j.1753-6405.2010.00507.x

DO - 10.1111/j.1753-6405.2010.00507.x

M3 - Article

C2 - 23331366

SN - 1326-0200

VL - 34

SP - 200

EP - 205

JO - Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health

JF - Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health

IS - 2

M1 - N/A

ER -