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Bou-Samra P, Scott P, Cheng H, Kallem C, Pathak R, Geller DA, Marsh W, Wang Y, Antoni M, Penedo F, Tsung A, Steel JL. Social Support is Associated with Survival in Patients Diagnosed with Gastrointestinal Cancer. J Gastrointest Cancer 2021; 53:854-861. [PMID: 34806126 DOI: 10.1007/s12029-021-00741-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 10/24/2021] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
Abstract
PURPOSE The aim of this study was to examine the link between psychological, behavioral, and social factors and survival in patients diagnosed with gastrointestinal cancer. METHODS A cohort of gastrointestinal cancer patients were administered a battery of questionnaires that assessed trauma, depression, social support, sleep, diet, exercise, quality of life, tobacco and alcohol use, pain, and fatigue. Analyses included Pearson's correlations, analyses of variance, Kaplan Meier survival, and Cox regression analyses. RESULTS Of the 568 patients, the majority were male (57.9%) and Caucasian (91.9%), with a mean age of 61 (S.D. = 10.7). The level of perceived social support was comparable to patients with other medical conditions. Sociodemographic predictors of social support included the number of years of education (r = 0.109, p = 0.05), marital status (F(6,387) = 5.465, p ≤ 0.001), and whether the patients' income met the family's basic needs (F(1,377) = 25.531, p < 0.001). Univariate analyses revealed that older age (p < 0.001), male gender (p = 0.007), being black (p = 0.005), diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma (p = 0.046), higher body mass index (p = 0.022), larger tumor size (p = 0.032), initial treatment including chemotherapy rather than surgery (p < 0.001), and lower level of perceived social support (p = 0.037) were associated with poorer survival. Using multivariate Cox regression and adjusting for all factors found to be significant in univariate survival analyses, older age (p = 0.024) and lower perceived social support (HR = 0.441, 95% CI = 0.233, 0.833; p = 0.012) were the factors that remained significantly associated with poorer survival. CONCLUSION There are several biological and psychosocial factors that predict cancer mortality. Social support appears to be a robust factor affecting mortality in gastrointestinal cancer patients.
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Affiliation(s)
- Patrick Bou-Samra
- Department of Surgery, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| | - Paul Scott
- Department of Psychology, School of Education, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| | - Hannah Cheng
- Department of Surgery, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| | - Cramer Kallem
- Department of Surgery, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| | - Ritambhara Pathak
- Department of Surgery, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| | - David A Geller
- Department of Surgery, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| | - Wallis Marsh
- Department of Surgery, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| | - Yisi Wang
- Department of Surgery, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| | - Michael Antoni
- Department of Psychology, University of Miami, Miami, FL, USA
| | - Frank Penedo
- Department of Psychology, University of Miami, Miami, FL, USA
| | - Allan Tsung
- Department of Surgery, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| | - Jennifer L Steel
- Department of Surgery, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, PA, USA. .,Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh, 3459 Fifth Avenue; Montefiore 7S, Pittsburgh, PA, 15213, USA. .,Department of Psychology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
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