Does socioeconomic status change cancer survival?
In Norwegian women, lower education and income predicted worse cancer survival until stage and smoking were accounted for.
Source
Socioeconomic differences in cancer survival: the Norwegian Women and Cancer Study
Study at a glance
- Design
- Cohort — NOWAC; education and household income vs cancer survival with stage and smoking adjustment
- N
- N=3849 · 3,849 incident invasive cancers with SES data from a 91,814-woman study population
- Population
- Norwegian women with incident primary invasive cancer in NOWAC
- Outcome
- Cancer survival by education and household income
Structured fields used in claim comparison tables when every cited study has a complete layer.
What they did
Using the Norwegian Women and Cancer cohort, investigators related education and household income to cancer survival and tested whether stage and pre-diagnosis smoking explained socioeconomic gradients.
What they found
An overall negative SES–survival gradient was present. Stage contribution was inconsistent, smoking was important, and after adjusting for stage and smoking the education and income differences became non-significant.
The limits
What it doesn't show
Observational findings in Norwegian women cannot isolate residual treatment inequities after smoking and stage adjustment.
Key terms
- SES
- Socioeconomic status indexed here by education and household income.
- Cancer survival
- Prognosis after cancer diagnosis across socioeconomic groups.
- Stage at diagnosis
- How far cancer has spread when first detected.
- NOWAC
- Norwegian Women and Cancer Study cohort.
- Confounding
- When factors like smoking explain an apparent SES–outcome link.
Flashcards
Research intelligence for this paper
See its role on concept claims, tensions it is part of, placement history, and related discoveries.
Quiz yourself
NOWAC here links SES mainly to:
Common questions
What SES measures were used?
Years of education and gross household income.
Did stage fully explain gaps?
No—its contribution was inconsistent; smoking mattered in models.
What happened after full adjustment?
Education and income survival differences became non-significant.
Who was studied?
Women in the Norwegian Women and Cancer cohort.
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