Marital status impacts survival of stage I non-small-cell lung cancer: a propensity-score matching analysis

Abstract

Aim: This population-based analysis aimed to explore the associations among marital status, prognosis and treatment of stage I non-small-cell lung cancer. Materials & methods: The propensity score matching (PSM), logistic regression and Cox proportional hazards model were used in this study. Results: A total of 13,937 patients were included. After PSM, 10579 patients were co-insured. The married were more likely to receive surgical treatment compared with the unmarried patients (OR: 1.841, p < 0.001), and patients who underwent surgery also tended to have better survival (HR: 0.293, p < 0.001). Conclusion: Compared with unmarried patients, a married group with stage I NSCLC had timely treatment and more satisfactory survival. This study highlights the importance of prompt help and care for unmarried patients.

Summary points

• Marital status had an effect on survival of early-stage NSCLC patients.

• Married patients were more likely to receive surgical treatment compared with the unmarried patients.

• Socioeconomic factors of patients should be paid attention.

• This study highlights the importance of prompt help and cares for unmarried stage I NSCLC patients.

Keywords: :

• marital
• non-small-cell lung cancer
• socioeconomic factors
• survival
• treatment

Author contributions

L-H Qiu, J-Q Song, F Jiang and G-W Ma contributed to the study design, data collection, data analyses, data interpretation and manuscript drafting. L-L Wu and Y-Y Zu contributed to data collection and analyses, YE Liu and G-W Ma contributed to manuscript review. F Jiang, LL Wu and J-Q Song contributed to data interpretation and manuscript review. All authors contributed to the final approval of the manuscript.

Financial disclosure

The authors have no financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript. This includes employment, consultancies, honoraria, stock ownership or options, expert testimony, grants or patents received or pending, or royalties.

Competing interests disclosure

The authors have no competing interests or relevant affiliations with any organization or entity with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript. This includes employment, consultancies, honoraria, stock ownership or options, expert testimony, grants or patents received or pending, or royalties.

Writing disclosure

No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.

Ethical conduct of research

This study was performed in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki. The Ethics Committee of Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center approved this study and considered this study exempt from ethical review because existing data without patient identifiers were used.

Acknowledgments

The authors acknowledge the SEER*Stat team for providing patient information. All authors appreciated statistical suggestions from Y-H Guo, who is from the Department of Scientific Research, Shaanxi Academy of Social Sciences, Shaanxi, China.