Which social measures relate to cancer screening & healthy behaviors?

Abstract

e18142 Background: Much of cancer health services research relies on administrative data, yet, there have been calls for more granular racial & social disparities data. Subjective SES (sSES) is associated with health status & behaviors, independent of objective SES (oSES) measures like income, education and race. We assessed the relationship between breast cancer patients’ oSES and sSES with their cancer screening and health behaviors. Methods: Data are part of a large prospective study evaluating the role of insulin resistance in women with newly diagnosed breast cancer. Patients were asked to place where they stand in their communities on the MacArthur Scale of Subjective Social Status ladder (sSES). oSES measures include race, income & education. We assessed diet, activity, breast & pap screening. Group comparisons used chi-square and t-tests as appropriate. We ran logistic multivariate models with age, race, insurance, comorbidity & income. Results: Of 1035 breast cancer patients with an average age of 58±12 yrs, 81% were White and 19% Black, 63% graduated college, 47%W & 16%B women reported an income of > $100,000/yr. The median sSES = 8; 20% had high sSES ( > 8). There were no racial differences observed in sSES (high sSES: 22% B vs 20% W; p = 0.7). More patients with high sSES graduated college (76% vs 61%, p = 0.0002) & had income > $100K/yr (62% vs 36%, p < .0001) than patients with lower sSES. Of the oSES, women with higher income were more likely to undergo both cancer screenings as compared to patients with lower income. College education did not impact cancer screenings. Black women were less likely to get pap smears. Patients with high as compared to low sSES had higher cancer screening rates and healthy behaviors. Conclusions: Income and sSES are positively associated with cancer screening and health behaviors; education & race are associated with activity & diet. Race is associated with pap screening.[Table: see text]