Individual and Neighborhood Socioeconomic Status and Healthcare Resources in Relation to Black-White Breast Cancer Survival Disparities
Table 2
Distribution of individual and county-level characteristics of breast cancer cases by race.
Characteristic
Black () %
White () %
value
Age at diagnosis mean (SD)
61.14 (14.34)
63.51 (13.49)
0.01
Income/$1000 mean (SD)
25.03 (24.38)
44.72 (40.40)
<0.001
Marital Status
Single
19.11
7.36
Married
28.60
53.55
Widowed
30.19
28.04
<0.001
Divorced/separated
19.72
9.84
Missing
2.39
1.21
Employment
In labor force
49.91
47.66
Not in labor force
46.10
48.18
0.79
Missing
3.99
4.17
Education
<High school
23.57
9.51
High school graduate
29.99
38.76
<0.001
College
46.44
51.73
Rural/urban
Rural
6.22
9.15
0.12
Urban
93.78
90.85
Stage of diagnosis
In situ/localized
53.01
54.62
0.96
Regional
27.69
27.11
Distant/unstaged
14.16
13.25
Missing
5.14
5.02
Surgical treatment
Received
91.23
95.07
None, medical reasons
4.30
2.06
0.03
None-non medical reasons
4.47
2.87
Radiation treatment
Received
31.17
38.61
None, medical reasons
62.42
55.68
0.07
None-nonmedical reasons
6.41
5.70
Income disparity
Poorest
36.94
16.77
Middle
30.79
34.87
<0.001
Highest
32.28
48.36
Education disparity
Poorest
43.20
26.90
Middle
24.69
31.43
<0.001
Highest
32.11
41.67
Facilities
Poorest
32.69
38.10
Middle
50.57
38.46
0.0009
Highest
16.74
23.44
Personnel
Poorest
13.09
12.10
Middle
45.67
44.28
0.76
Highest
41.24
43.62
Percent non-English speaking
<3%
40.32
22.42
<0.001
≥3%
59.68
77.58
Percent black
<6%
12.48
32.49
<0.001
≥6%
87.52
67.51
aPersonnel and facilities, two measures of health care access were defined using principal components analysis on the count per 10,000 population of county level variables and then categorized into tertiles. Facilities: hospitals, mammography facilities; Personnel: MDs, Dos, and nurse practitioners.
bMeasures of SES at the county level are the ICE-Income and ICE-Education variables which were calculated and categorized into tertiles, defined as: ICE-Education = (% 25+ years with college 25+ years with <9 yrs education). ICE-Income = (% with HH income >$100,0 HH in poverty).
