correlation between the family levels of socioeconomic status and stage at diagnosis of breast cancer

Stage is one of the most important prognostic factors for the cancer diagnosis, including the breast cancer. Studies have found that the rate of breast cancer late-stage diagnosis, among the women with lower socioeconomic status, is more than the others. The aim of this study was investigation the relationship between family levels of socioeconomic status and stage at diagnosis of breast cancer. This cross-sectional, descriptive study has conducted on 526 patients who have suffered from breast cancer, and have registered in Cancer Research Center of Shahid Beheshti university of Medical science, from March 2008 till December 2013. A reliable and valid questionnaire about family status of socioeconomic status, have filled by interviewing the patients via phone. For analyzing the data, Multinomial logistic regression, Kendal tau-b correlation coefficient and Contingency Coefficient tests have executed by SPSS19. The results have indicated that the mean age of the patients was 48.30 [SD=11.41]. There was a significant relationship between stage at diagnosis of breast cancer and family levels of socioeconomic status at the time of diagnosis [p=0.024]. Also, the relationship between stage at diagnosis and living place [in or out of Tehran] was significant [p=0.044]. In the Multiple logistic regressions, these associations were significant. There wasn't any significant relationship between stage of diagnosis of breast cancer and age, marital status and family history. Regarding the results of this study, deep paying attention to the family socioeconomic status as an important variable in stage at diagnosis of breast cancer, among Iranian women, was too important, and then providing the prevention plans related to this topic has seemed necessary

Perforated jejunal diverticula- a rare cause of acute abdominal pain: a case report

Jejunal diverticula have a prevalence of approximately 1% in the general population. Perforation of jejunal diverticulum is a rare. Clinically this diagnosis may be easily confused with other causes of an acute abdomen. In the article, we discuss a 74-year-old man with a 2-day history of constipation and left-sided abdominal pain. The day before admission he developed an abrupt exacerbation his symptoms with pain localized to periumbilical and left lower quadrant. An abdominal computed tomography scan revealed soft tissue stranding within the left upper quadrant, bilateral plural effusions, larger on the left, an opacity with the right and left pulmonary lobes and polypoid lesion with in stomach. Physical examination revealed left upper quadrant fullness. An emergency laparotomy was carried out. This revealed multiple jejunal diverticula, one of which had perforated 40 centimeters distal to the ligament of Treitz

Associations of demographic and socioeconomic factors with complete treatment and follow up of colon cancer

Cancer is the second cause of death in the world, and colon cancer is the third cause of death and is one of the most common cancers which will cure with early diagnosis, treatment and sufficient follow up. Assessing factors which affect this cancer is important for prolonging patient survival. Socioeconomic factors are among effective factors of cancer morbidity and mortality. Because mortality rates for colon cancers vary by socioeconomic characteristics, this study has been performed to recognize the relationship between socioeconomic factors with treatment and follow up of colon cancer. This was a cross-sectional, descriptive study for patients with colon cancer registered in Cancer Research Center of Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences from April 2005 to November 2006. Patients were selected randomly, and the study was conducted using questionnaires filled by interviewing the patients via phone [if a patient was dead, the questions were asked from their family members]. Data analysis was done using SPSS [version 19] software. The study was performed on 520 colon cancer patients with age range of 23-88 years. The mean age of the patients was 63 [S.D. = 11.8] and the median age was 64.Two hundred thirty seven [45.4%] patients were female and 283[54.4%] were male. Using Chi- square test, age< 60 [P=0.002] and female gender [P=0.034] had a significant correlation with complete treatment and there was a significant relationship between complete follow up and age< 60 [P=0.037], academic education [P=0.02] and having insurance [P=0.021]. Multiple logistic regression tests were used to evaluate concurrent effects of variables on treatment and follow up. Correlated variables to complete treatment include: age< 60 [P=0.001], and female gender [P = 0.023].The Odds Ratio [OR] of completing treatment for patients under 60 years of age versus patients above 60 years was 3.13 [95% C.I. 1.55 to 6.34], and the OR of completing treatment for women versus men was 1.91[95% C.I. 1.33 to 2.74]. Correlated variables to follow up were academic education [P = 0.018] and having insurance [P = 0.046]. The OR of cancer follow up in illiterate patients versus college-educated patients was 0.45[95% C.I. 0.24 to 0.82], and the OR of cancer follow up in patients without insurance versus patients with health was 0.46[95% C.I. 0.21 to 0.98]. Age is a correlated factor on completing colon cancer treatment. Women have more complete colon cancer treatment than men. Academic education and having insurance were the most important factors among socioeconomic factors observed in a five-year follow up after treatment. As the population of the old is increasing, executing effective interventions to improve treatment and follow up procedures for old patients is of prime importance. It seems that increasing the insurance contribution in follow up measures may lead to increase in the regular follow up and may affect patients' survival.