Place of residence and poverty level as prognostic factors for prostate cancer survival in Veracruz, Mexico

Abstract

Objectives: To determine if the place of residence and the level of poverty are associated with prostate cancer survival. Materials and methods: All patients diagnosed with prostate cancer (PC) in the period from 2013 to 2017 in a tertiary healthcare hospital in Veracruz, Mexico were included. Patients resided in rural and urban areas. Variables were collected according to clinical-epidemiological and histopathological characteristics. The Kaplan Meier method and the Log Rank test were used to measure survival. Prognostic factors were determined by calculating the adjusted hazard ratio (HRa) in a multivariate analysis using the Cox proportional risk method. Results: A total of 186 PC cases were analyzed. Overall, after 5 years, 48.3% of the patients survived. Men living in urban areas had a higher probability of survival than those living in rural areas (HRa 1.67, 95% CI 1.16-2.41). Similarly, people living in areas classified as low-poverty zones had a higher probability of survival than those living in areas with high-poverty (HRa 2.32, 95% CI 1.47-3.66). Conclusions: To reside in a rural place was identified as a negative prognostic factor for the survival of patients with PC regardless of other sociodemographic and clinical variables; patients living in places with a high-poverty level had an unfavorable survival prognosis.