Education level as a predictor of survival in patients with multiple myeloma.

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND:Disparities in multiple myeloma (MM) prognosis based on sociodemographic factors may exist. We investigated whether education level at diagnosis influenced Chinese MM patient outcomes. METHODS:We performed a multicenter retrospective analysis of data from 773 MM patients across 9 centers in China from 2006 to 2019. Sociodemographic and clinical factors at diagnosis and treatment regimens were recorded, and univariate and multivariate analyses were performed. RESULTS:Overall, 69.2% of patients had low education levels. Patients with low education levels differed from those with high education levels in that they were more likely to be older, and a higher proportion lived in rural areas, were unemployed, had lower annual incomes and lacked insurance. Additionally, compared to patients with high education levels, patients with low education levels had a higher proportion of international staging system (ISS) stage III classification and elevated lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) levels and underwent transplantation less often. Patients with high education levels had a median progression-free survival (PFS) of 67.50 (95% confidence interval (CI): 51.66-83.39) months, which was better than that of patients with low education levels (30.60?months, 95% CI: 27.38-33.82, p?

SUBMITTER: Xu L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7414648 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature