The association of marital status with suicide among male cancer patients in the United States.

Authors

null

Nosayaba Osazuwa-Peters

Saint Louis University School of Medicine, Saint Louis, MO

Nosayaba Osazuwa-Peters, Matthew C Simpson, Aleksandr R Bukatko, Eric Adjei Boakye

Organizations

Saint Louis University School of Medicine, Saint Louis, MO, Saint Louis University Center for Health Outcomes Research, St. Louis, MO

Research Funding

Other

Background: Suicide rate is among cancer survivors double that of the general United States population, and risk is significantly greater among males than females. Meanwhile, being married confers survival advantage across the cancer continuum, with males benefitting more than females. This study was aimed at determining whether marital status mitigated the risk of suicide among male cancer patients with advanced stage disease. Methods: Male patients with stage IV cancer of nine common cancer sites (prostate, lung/bronchus, colon/rectum, urinary bladder, melanoma of the skin, kidney/renal pelvis, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, head and neck cancer, liver/intrahepatic bile duct) diagnosed from 2007-2015 from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results 18 database were included. A multivariate competing risks proportional hazards model determined the impact of marital status on suicide while controlling for covariates (age, county-level poverty percentage, insurance status, race/ethnicity, cancer site). This model yielded adjusted hazard ratios (aHR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI). Results: There were 228,627 male patients included, with 330 patients committing suicide. The cohort was predominantly non-Hispanic white (71%), married/partnered (57%), and had an average age of 65 years. In the model including all nine cancer sites, divorced/separated (aHR = 1.92, 95% CI 1.40, 2.62), never married (aHR = 1.98, 95% CI 1.48, 2.66), and widowed patients (aHR = 1.50, 95% CI 1.01, 2.24) were more likely than married/partnered patients to commit suicide. Conclusions: Married cancer survivors with advance stage disease are less likely to die by suicide, highlighting the value of supportive care in cancer survivorship. Unmarried patients with advanced stage disease are candidates for surveillance to mitigate suicide risk.

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Abstract Details

Meeting

2018 Palliative and Supportive Care in Oncology Symposium

Session Type

Poster Session

Session Title

Poster Session B: Advance Care Planning; Caregiver Support; Coordination and Continuity of Care; End-of-Life Care; Models of Care; Survivorship; and Symptom Biology, Assessment and Management

Track

Advance Care Planning,End-of-Life Care,Survivorship,Coordination and Continuity of Care,Symptom Biology, Assessment, and Management,Models of Care,Caregiver Support

Sub Track

Survivorship

Citation

J Clin Oncol 36, 2018 (suppl 34; abstr 181)

DOI

10.1200/JCO.2018.36.34_suppl.181

Abstract #

181

Poster Bd #

E2

Abstract Disclosures

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