Social class risk factors among children with Hodgkin's disease.

Abstract

We compared the social class characteristics of 66 families with children diagnosed with Hodgkin's disease (HD) from 1959 through 1977 in a defined population with that of 182 "control families" identified by a random process from the population base. The 14 youngest cases (less than 10 years at diagnosis) were from somewhat lower social-class backgrounds than their 37 controls as evidenced by the distribution of median income, single-unit housing, and poverty level of their census tract of residence, as well as by the occupational class of head-of-household. In contrast, the social class characteristics of the 52 older children with HD (10-14 years) were quite similar to that of their 145 controls. This apparent shift from lower to average social class between younger and older children with HD Hodgkin's disease may reflect a shift in their age of exposure to common infections. If true, these findings are consistent with the hypothesis that HD may develop as a rare consequence of a common infection. However, these findings are based on small numbers of cases and on indirect measures of social class.