TY - JOUR
T1 - Disadvantage of men living alone participating in radiation therapy oncology group head and neck trials
AU - Konski, Andre A.
AU - Pajak, Thomas F.
AU - Movsas, Benjamin
AU - Coyne, James
AU - Harris, Jonathan
AU - Gwede, Clement
AU - Garden, Adam
AU - Spencer, Sharon
AU - Jones, Christopher
AU - Watkins-Bruner, Deborah
N1 - Copyright:
Copyright 2012 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2006/9/1
Y1 - 2006/9/1
N2 - Purpose: This study evaluated whether males without partners were disadvantaged for survival in Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG) head and neck cancer clinical trials. Methods: Patients treated on three RTOG trials were studied. The Cox proportional hazards model was used to determine if sex and the interaction between sex and marital/partner status were independent prognostic variables for overall survival controlling for Karnofsky performance status, tumor stage, nodal stage, primary site, and protocol treatment. Results: A total of 1,901 patients (1,509 men) were entered onto the three RTOG trials, with 1,822 (1,438 men) analyzable patients. Prognostic variables independent of disease-related variables for survival in multivariate analyses restricted to men were age, marital/partner status, and income. Conclusion: The apparent disadvantage of unpartnered men is striking, even after controlling for disease and other demographic variables. Possible explanations could easily be tested in observational studies, leading to evaluation of simple interventions to improve their outcome.
AB - Purpose: This study evaluated whether males without partners were disadvantaged for survival in Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG) head and neck cancer clinical trials. Methods: Patients treated on three RTOG trials were studied. The Cox proportional hazards model was used to determine if sex and the interaction between sex and marital/partner status were independent prognostic variables for overall survival controlling for Karnofsky performance status, tumor stage, nodal stage, primary site, and protocol treatment. Results: A total of 1,901 patients (1,509 men) were entered onto the three RTOG trials, with 1,822 (1,438 men) analyzable patients. Prognostic variables independent of disease-related variables for survival in multivariate analyses restricted to men were age, marital/partner status, and income. Conclusion: The apparent disadvantage of unpartnered men is striking, even after controlling for disease and other demographic variables. Possible explanations could easily be tested in observational studies, leading to evaluation of simple interventions to improve their outcome.
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U2 - 10.1200/JCO.2006.06.2901
DO - 10.1200/JCO.2006.06.2901
M3 - Article
C2 - 16943534
AN - SCOPUS:33748673108
SN - 0732-183X
VL - 24
SP - 4177
EP - 4183
JO - Journal of Clinical Oncology
JF - Journal of Clinical Oncology
IS - 25
ER -