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Does socioeconomic status account for racial and ethnic disparities in childhood cancer survival?

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND:For many childhood cancers, survival is lower among non-Hispanic blacks and Hispanics in comparison with non-Hispanic whites, and this may be attributed to underlying socioeconomic factors. However, prior childhood cancer survival studies have not formally tested for mediation by socioeconomic status (SES). This study applied mediation methods to quantify the role of SES in racial/ethnic differences in childhood cancer survival. METHODS:This study used population-based cancer survival data from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results 18 database for black, white, and Hispanic children who had been diagnosed at the ages of 0 to 19 years in 2000-2011 (n = 31,866). Black-white and Hispanic-white mortality hazard ratios and 95% confidence intervals, adjusted for age, sex, and stage at diagnosis, were estimated. The inverse odds weighting method was used to test for mediation by SES, which was measured with a validated census-tract composite index. RESULTS:Whites had a significant survival advantage over blacks and Hispanics for several childhood cancers. SES significantly mediated the race/ethnicity-survival association for acute lymphoblastic leukemia, acute myeloid leukemia, neuroblastoma, and non-Hodgkin lymphoma; SES reduced the original association between race/ethnicity and survival by 44%, 28%, 49%, and 34%, respectively, for blacks versus whites and by 31%, 73%, 48%, and 28%, respectively, for Hispanics versus whites ((log hazard ratio total effect - log hazard ratio direct effect)/log hazard ratio total effect). CONCLUSIONS:SES significantly mediates racial/ethnic childhood cancer survival disparities for several cancers. However, the proportion of the total race/ethnicity-survival association explained by SES varies between black-white and Hispanic-white comparisons for some cancers, and this suggests that mediation by other factors differs across groups.

SUBMITTER: Kehm RD

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6234050 | biostudies-other | 2018 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other

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Does socioeconomic status account for racial and ethnic disparities in childhood cancer survival?

Kehm Rebecca D RD Spector Logan G LG Poynter Jenny N JN Vock David M DM Altekruse Sean F SF Osypuk Theresa L TL

Cancer 20180820 20

<h4>Background</h4>For many childhood cancers, survival is lower among non-Hispanic blacks and Hispanics in comparison with non-Hispanic whites, and this may be attributed to underlying socioeconomic factors. However, prior childhood cancer survival studies have not formally tested for mediation by socioeconomic status (SES). This study applied mediation methods to quantify the role of SES in racial/ethnic differences in childhood cancer survival.<h4>Methods</h4>This study used population-based ...[more]

PMID: 30125340

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Project description:ObjectivesThe prevalence of childhood obesity is significantly higher among racial and/or ethnic minority children in the United States. It is unclear to what extent well-established obesity risk factors in infancy and preschool explain these disparities. Our objective was to decompose racial and/or ethnic disparities in children's weight status according to contributing socioeconomic and behavioral risk factors.MethodsWe used nationally representative data from ∼10 700 children in the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study Birth Cohort who were followed from age 9 months through kindergarten entry. We assessed the contribution of socioeconomic factors and maternal, infancy, and early childhood obesity risk factors to racial and/or ethnic disparities in children's BMI z scores by using Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition analyses.ResultsThe prevalence of risk factors varied significantly by race and/or ethnicity. African American children had the highest prevalence of risk factors, whereas Asian children had the lowest prevalence. The major contributor to the BMI z score gap was the rate of infant weight gain during the first 9 months of life, which was a strong predictor of BMI z score at kindergarten entry. The rate of infant weight gain accounted for between 14.9% and 70.5% of explained disparities between white children and their racial and/or ethnic minority peers. Gaps in socioeconomic status were another important contributor that explained disparities, especially those between white and Hispanic children. Early childhood risk factors, such as fruit and vegetable consumption and television viewing, played less important roles in explaining racial and/or ethnic differences in children's BMI z scores.ConclusionsDifferences in rapid infant weight gain contribute substantially to racial and/or ethnic disparities in obesity during early childhood. Interventions implemented early in life to target this risk factor could help curb widening racial and/or ethnic disparities in early childhood obesity.

Project description:BackgroundLimited studies have investigated racial/ethnic survival disparities for breast cancer defined by estrogen receptor (ER) and progesterone receptor (PR) status in a multiethnic population.MethodsUsing multivariable Cox proportional hazards models, we assessed associations of race/ethnicity with ER/PR-specific breast cancer mortality in 10,366 California women diagnosed with breast cancer from 1993 to 2009. We evaluated joint associations of race/ethnicity, health care, sociodemographic, and lifestyle factors with mortality.ResultsAmong women with ER/PR+ breast cancer, breast cancer-specific mortality was similar among Hispanic and Asian American women, but higher among African American women [HR, 1.31; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.05-1.63] compared with non-Hispanic White (NHW) women. Breast cancer-specific mortality was modified by surgery type, hospital type, education, neighborhood socioeconomic status (SES), smoking history, and alcohol consumption. Among African American women, breast cancer-specific mortality was higher among those treated at nonaccredited hospitals (HR, 1.57; 95% CI, 1.21-2.04) and those from lower SES neighborhoods (HR, 1.48; 95% CI, 1.16-1.88) compared with NHW women without these characteristics. Breast cancer-specific mortality was higher among African American women with at least some college education (HR, 1.42; 95% CI, 1.11-1.82) compared with NHW women with similar education. For ER-/PR- disease, breast cancer-specific mortality did not differ by race/ethnicity and associations of race/ethnicity with breast cancer-specific mortality varied only by neighborhood SES among African American women.ConclusionsRacial/ethnic survival disparities are more striking for ER/PR+ than ER-/PR- breast cancer. Social determinants and lifestyle factors may explain some of the survival disparities for ER/PR+ breast cancer.ImpactAddressing these factors may help reduce the higher mortality of African American women with ER/PR+ breast cancer.

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Does socioeconomic status account for racial and ethnic disparities in childhood cancer survival?

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Does socioeconomic status account for racial and ethnic disparities in childhood cancer survival?

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