Socioeconomic Status and Race are Factors in Multiple Myeloma Interventions

Socioeconomic status (SES) and race/ethnicity should be considered when planning multiple myeloma (MM) interventions, according to a study published in Cancer Causes & Control.

To conduct this study, researchers used data from the 2000-2015 NCI Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Program (SEER-18). The census tract-level SES index was assessed in three tertiles (low, medium, high SES). Competing-risk modeling was then used to estimate sub-hazard ratios (SHR) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for SES tertile adjusted for sex and age at diagnosis and stratified by race/ethnicity.

According to the results, people in living in low SES neighborhoods had worse MM survival. However, the researchers observed some variation in the association by racial/ethnic group. Overall, residing in a low versus a high SES neighborhood was associated with a 35% (95% CI, 1.16-1.57) increase in MM-specific mortality risk among Asian/Pacific Islander cases, a 17% (95% CI, 1.12-1.22) increase among White cases, a 14% (95% CI, 1.04-1.23) increase among Black cases, and a 7% (95% CI, 0.96-1.19) increase among Hispanic patients.

“These results suggest that the influence of both SES and race/ethnicity should be considered when considering interventions to remedy disparities in MM survival,” the researchers concluded.