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Social inequalities in the incidence and case fatality of cancers of the lung, the stomach, the bowels, and the breast

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Abstract

Objective

In order to examine health inequalities in terms of incidences and case fatalities in a German health insurance population. Lung cancer, stomach cancer, intestinal carcinoma, and breast cancer were considered. Social differentiation was depicted by income and occupational position in order to examine which one is more strongly associated with incidence and case fatality.

Methods

Analyses were performed using data from a statutory health insurance (n = 170,848). Incomes were divided into quintiles, and subjects were grouped according to occupational status.

Results

For lung cancer incidence a gradient between the highest and the lowest 20% of the income distribution emerged. The relative risk of the lowest category was RR = 7.03, for occupational position the figure was RR = 6.98. For stomach cancer the relative risks were RR = 5.33 for income and RR = 7.11 for occupational position. For intestinal carcinoma only income was significantly related with incidence (RR = 4.37 for the lowest 20% of the income distribution), and for breast cancer incidence no social inequalities were found. For case fatality increased relative risks emerged for lung cancer, but only for income.

Conclusions

Income and occupational position were associated with cancer incidence with the exception of breast cancer. Apart from lung cancer, case fatalities were unrelated to measures of social differentiation.

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Acknowledgments

Work with this dataset was made possible by the Allgemeine Ortskrankenkasse Mettmann, especially by Klaus W. Weber and Reiner Rosenthal, who opened opportunities for using the health insurance data for scientific analyses. The help by Richard Peter, Andrea Jung, Irene Jung, Christof Lebek, and Margret Stolz is particularly acknowledged for their advice and for discussions while preparing the material used for this article.

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  1. Medizinische Soziologie OE 5420, Medizinische Hochschule Hannover, 30625, Hannover, Germany

    Siegfried Geyer

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  1. Siegfried Geyer
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Correspondence to Siegfried Geyer.

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Geyer, S. Social inequalities in the incidence and case fatality of cancers of the lung, the stomach, the bowels, and the breast. Cancer Causes Control 19, 965–974 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10552-008-9162-5

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