TABLE 1—
Characteristics of the Study Population: Georgia Comprehensive Cancer Registry, 2000–2007
| Characteristics | Rural, No. (%) or Median (95% CI) | Suburban, No. (%) or Median (95% CI) | Urban, No. (%) or Median (95% CI) | P |
| Study population | 3213 (15.7) | 5567 (27.2) | 11 664 (57.1) | |
| Vital status | < .001 | |||
| Alive | 1471 (45.8) | 2787 (50.1) | 5846 (50.1) | |
| Deceased | 1742 (54.2) | 2780 (49.9) | 5818 (49.9) | |
| Death time, mo | 68.8 (63.6, 73.1) | 81.1 (76.4, 86.3) | 82.0 (78.4, 85.9) | |
| Location of cancer | .635 | |||
| Colon | 2293 (71.4) | 4003 (71.9) | 8422 (72.2) | |
| Rectum | 920 (28.6) | 1564 (28.1) | 3242 (27.8) | |
| Gender | < .001 | |||
| Female | 1470 (45.8) | 2550 (45.8) | 5722 (49.1) | |
| Male | 1743 (54.2) | 3017 (54.2) | 5942 (50.9) | |
| Race | < .001 | |||
| African American | 809 (25.2) | 989 (17.8) | 3765 (32.3) | |
| White | 2404 (74.8) | 4578 (82.2) | 7899 (67.7) | |
| Ethnicity | < .001 | |||
| Hispanic | 12 (0.4) | 33 (0.6) | 196 (1.7) | |
| Non-Hispanic | 3201 (99.6) | 5534 (99.4) | 11 468 (98.3) | |
| Census tract SES | < .001 | |||
| High or upper middle | 108 (3.4) | 1716 (30.8) | 7092 (60.8) | |
| Lower middle | 1661 (51.7) | 2874 (51.6) | 2672 (22.9) | |
| Low | 1444 (44.9) | 977 (17.6) | 1900 (16.3) | |
| Age at diagnosis, y | < .001 | |||
| 45–64 | 1398 (43.5) | 2609 (46.9) | 5668 (48.6) | |
| 65–74 | 1014 (31.6) | 1685 (30.2) | 3191 (27.4) | |
| 75–85 | 801 (24.9) | 1273 (22.9) | 2805 (24.0) | |
| Tumor stage | .376 | |||
| Localized | 1271 (39.6) | 2233 (40.1) | 4798 (41.1) | |
| Regional | 471 (14.6) | 821 (14.7) | 1591 (13.6) | |
| Regional with LN involvement | 823 (25.6) | 1406 (25.3) | 2934 (25.2) | |
| Distant | 648 (20.2) | 1107 (19.9) | 2341 (20.1) | |
| Tumor grade | < .001a | |||
| Well differentiated | 333 (10.4) | 727 (13.0) | 1149 (9.9) | |
| Moderately differentiated | 2038 (63.4) | 3378 (60.7) | 7240 (62.1) | |
| Poorly differentiated | 444 (13.8) | 750 (13.5) | 1547 (13.2) | |
| Undifferentiated | 15 (0.5) | 43 (0.8) | 98 (0.8) | |
| Unknown | 383 (11.9) | 669 (12.0) | 1630 (14.0) | |
| Surgery | .061a | |||
| No | 340 (10.6) | 505 (9.1) | 1144 (9.8) | |
| Yes | 2844 (88.5) | 5023 (90.2) | 10 448 (89.6) | |
| Unknown | 29 (0.9) | 39 (0.7) | 72 (0.6) | |
| Chemotherapy | .018a | |||
| No | 1969 (61.3) | 3294 (59.2) | 6952 (59.6) | |
| Yes | 1093 (34.0) | 2085 (37.5) | 4262 (36.5) | |
| Unknown | 151 (4.7) | 188 (3.3) | 450 (3.9) | |
| Radiation | .012a | |||
| No | 2766 (86.1) | 4742 (85.2) | 10 115 (86.7) | |
| Yes | 409 (12.7) | 774 (13.9) | 1432 (12.3) | |
| Unknown | 38 (1.2) | 51 (0.9) | 117 (1.0) | |
| Late-stage diagnosis | .825 | |||
| No | 1742 (54.2) | 3054 (54.9) | 6389 (54.8) | |
| Yes | 1471 (45.8) | 2513 (45.1) | 5275 (45.2) |
Note. CI = confidence interval; LN = lymph node; SES = socioeconomic status. The sample size was n = 20 444.
a
This comparison of rural, suburban, and urban excludes the unknown category.