Socioeconomic factors and the presentation, management, and outcome of patients with differentiated thyroid carcinoma

To determine whether patients from disadvantaged socioeconomic groups present with more advanced thyroid carcinoma or experience differing management and clinical outcomes, we retrospectively reviewed the charts of 292 patients seen at MID Anderson Cancer Center and Ben Taub General Hospital between 1987 and 1994. At diagnosis, the mean age was 42 +/- 16 years, 78% of patients were female, 76% of patients were low risk (TNM stage I or II), and 22% high risk (stage III or IV). Neighborhood income (+/- standard error of the mean [SEMI) (1990 census data) was lower in the high-risk group compared with the low-risk group ($26,200 +/- 1,670 vs. $30,900 +/- 870, p = 0.012). Men were more likely than women to present at an older age (47.5 +/- 16.7 vs. 40.2 +/- 16.0, p = 0.0014) and in the high-risk group (46% vs. 15%, p < 0.0001). No socioeconomic factor (ethnicity, marital status, occupation prestige, neighborhood income, insurance type) influenced initial diagnostic assessment. Similarly, no socioeconomic factor influenced initial disease management or the type of follow-up received over the 12-year period. Married patients had a lower 5-year recurrence rate than those unmarried (18% vs. 32%, p = 0.03); however, this did not affect overall or disease-specific survival. Similarly, ethnicity, marital status, occupation prestige, and insurance type did not influence overall or disease-specific survival. Although 10-year overall survival rates were lower in patients in the lowest income quartile (57% vs. 70% for upper, p = 0.0024) and in men compared with women (39% vs. 76%, p < 0.0001), gender alone influenced 10-year disease-specific survival (80% for men, 89% for women, p = 0.047). In summary, no socioeconomic factor appears to affect initial treatment or follow-up pattern in patients with differentiated thyroid cancer. Income and gender may affect stage at initial disease presentation and may be risk factors affecting eventual clinical outcomes.