ABSTRACT
Objective@# To explore the influence of marital status on the survival of patients with buccal mucosa squamous cell carcinoma (BMSCC) and to provide a scientific basis for risk assessment and nursing decisions for these patients.@*Methods @# A total of 1 006 BMSCC participants were identified in the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results(SEER) database. Kaplan-Meier analysis was used to evaluate the effect of marital status (married, unmarried and unhappily married) on the survival of patients with buccal squamous cell carcinoma. The independent prognostic effect of marital status was further determined by univariate and multivariate Cox proportional hazard regression analysis.@*Results@# Marital status was an independent prognostic factor for BMSCC patients (P=0.001). Married patients had the best survival, while separated/divorced/widowed patients had the worst survival (HR=1. 445, P=0.001), and never married patients had an intermediate risk (HR=1.297, P=0.040).@*Conclusion@#Marital status was an independent prognostic factor for BMSCC patients. Unmarried and unhappily married patients had worse survival, which suggests that we should pay more attention to patients’ marital status, especially unmarried and unhappily married patients.