BACKGROUND: While cancer survival at several sites has historically been shown to vary by education level, a current comprehensive assessment of survival following a cancer diagnosis in Sweden, a country with universal health care and cancer screening, has yet to be carried out. METHODS: Using the 2006 update of the Swedish Family-Cancer Database and Cox's proportional hazards regression methods, we calculate the adjusted hazard ratio (HR) and 95% confidence interval to estimate the influence of education level on site-specific cancer survival. RESULTS: Significant positive associations between education level and cancer survival were observed following a diagnosis of upper aerodigestive track cancer, colon cancer, pancreatic cancer, lung cancer, kidney cancer, urinary bladder cancer, melanoma, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, breast cancer, endometrial cancer, cervical cancer, prostate cancer, and testicular cancer. Although the HRs differed between cancer sites, compared with women and men completing <9 years of education, university graduates were associated with a significant 40% improved survival for all cancer sites combined. CONCLUSIONS: Survival differences by education level were observed for both indolent and aggressive malignancies.
BACKGROUND: While cancer survival at several sites has historically been shown to vary by education level, a current comprehensive assessment of survival following a cancer diagnosis in Sweden, a country with universal health care and cancer screening, has yet to be carried out. METHODS: Using the 2006 update of the Swedish Family-Cancer Database and Cox's proportional hazards regression methods, we calculate the adjusted hazard ratio (HR) and 95% confidence interval to estimate the influence of education level on site-specific cancer survival. RESULTS: Significant positive associations between education level and cancer survival were observed following a diagnosis of upper aerodigestive track cancer, colon cancer, pancreatic cancer, lung cancer, kidney cancer, urinary bladder cancer, melanoma, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, breast cancer, endometrial cancer, cervical cancer, prostate cancer, and testicular cancer. Although the HRs differed between cancer sites, compared with women and men completing <9 years of education, university graduates were associated with a significant 40% improved survival for all cancer sites combined. CONCLUSIONS: Survival differences by education level were observed for both indolent and aggressive malignancies.
Authors: D Antolová; P Jarčuška; M Janičko; A Madarasová-Gecková; M Halánová; L Čisláková; Z Kalinová; K Reiterová; M Škutová; D Pella; M Mareková Journal: Epidemiol Infect Date: 2015-01-16 Impact factor: 4.434
Authors: Ruth Puig-Peiro; Anne Mason; Jorge Mestre-Ferrandiz; Adrian Towse; Clare McGrath; Bengt Jonsson Journal: Int J Technol Assess Health Care Date: 2016-01-20 Impact factor: 2.188
Authors: Marianne Weires; Justo Lorenzo Bermejo; Kristina Sundquist; Jan Sundquist; Kari Hemminki Journal: BMC Public Health Date: 2008-09-30 Impact factor: 3.295