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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2014 Dec 19.
Published in final edited form as: JAMA. 2014 Dec 17;312(23):2542–2550. doi: 10.1001/jama.2014.16616

Table 2.

Factors Associated With Hypofractionated vs Conventional Whole Breast Irradiation (WBI) in the Hypofractionation-Permitted Cohort

No. (%) of Women Adjusted OR
(95% CI)a
P Value
Conventional, WBI Hypofractionated, WBI
Year, 2008–2013b 6719 1.3 (1.3–1.4) <.001
Patient Factors
Age at radiotherapy start
  ≤49 3161 (47.0) 2767 (87.5) 394 (12.5) 0.9 (0.7–1.2) .50
  50–54 923 (13.7) 817 (88.5) 106 (11.5) 1 [Reference]
  55–59 1018 (15.2) 903 (88.7) 115 (11.3) 0.9 (0.7–1.3) .69
  60–64 906 (13.5) 787 (86.9) 119 (13.1) 1.1 (0.8–1.5) .53
  65–69 316 (4.7) 266 (84.2) 50 (15.8) 1.3 (0.9–1.9) .20
  70–74 221 (3.3) 186 (84.2) 35 (15.8) 1.3 (0.9–2.0) .21
  ≥75 174 (2.6) 142 (81.6) 32 (18.4) 1.4 (0.9–2.3) .14
Modified Deyo-Charlson Comorbidity Indexc
  0 4820 (71.7) 4228 (87.7) 592 (12.3) 1 [Reference]
  1 1374 (20.4) 1191 (86.7) 183 (13.3) 1.1 (0.9–1.3) .36
  2 337 (5.0) 298 (88.4) 39 (11.6) 0.9 (0.6–1.2) .43
  ≥3 188 (2.8) 151 (80.3) 37 (19.7) 1.5 (1.0–2.3) .03
Radiotherapy technique
  Non-IMRT 6187 (92.1) 5433 (87.8) 754 (12.2) 1 [Reference]
  IMRT 532 (7.9) 435 (81.8) 97 (18.2) 1.6 (1.2–2.0) <.001
Chemotherapy prior to surgery
  No 6004 (89.4) 5223 (87.0) 781 (13.0) 1 [Reference]
  Yes 715 (10.6) 645 (90.2) 70 (9.8) 0.6 (0.5–0.8) .001
Chemotherapy between surgery and WBI
  No 2714 (40.4 2341 (86.3) 373 (13.7) 1 [Reference]
  Yes 4005 (59.6) 3527 (88.1) 478 (11.9) 0.8 (0.7–0.9) .008
Axillary lymph node involvement
  No 5347 (79.6) 4653 (87.0) 694 (13.0) 1 [Reference]
  Yes 1372 (20.4) 1215 (88.6) 157 (11.4) 0.8 (0.6–0.9) .01
Practice setting
  Freestanding facility 2338 (34.8) 2065 (88.3) 273 (11.7) 1 [Reference]
  Outpatient hospital 4381 (65.2) 3803 (86.8) 578 (13.2) 1.1 (1.0–1.3) .15
Geographic Factors (by Zip Code of Residence)
US Census region
  Northeast 1543 (23) 1307 (84.7) 236 (15.3) 1 [Reference]
  Midwest 1544 (23) 1319 (85.4) 225 (14.6) 1.0 (0.8,1.2) .97
  South 1800 (26.8) 1613 (89.6) 187 (10.4) 0.6 (0.5,0.8) <.001
  West 1772 (26.4) 1578 (89.1) 194 (10.9) 0.6 (0.5,0.8) <.001
  Unknownd 60 (0.9) 51 (85.0) 9 (15.0)
Population of county of residence
  ≤250 000 1154 (17.2) 1016 (88.0) 138 (12.0) 1 [Reference]
  >250 000 5498 (81.8) 4795 (87.2) 703 (12.8) 1.0 (0.8–1.2) .76
  Unknownd 67 (1.0) 57 (85.1) 10 (14.9)
Annual median household income of residents, US $
  ≤40 000 876 (13) 784 (89.5) 92 (10.5) 1 [Reference]
  40 001–59 999 3842 (57.2) 3355 (87.3) 487 (12.7) 1.3 (1.0–1.7) .07
  ≥60 000 1890 (28.1) 1633 (86.4) 257 (13.6) 1.5 (1.1–2.1) .01
  Unknownd 111 (1.7) 96 (86.5) 15 (13.5) 1.2 (0.9–1.6)
Radiation oncologists per 100 000 residentse 1.1 (1.0–1.2) .23
<High school degree, %f 1.0 (1.0–1.0) .09

Abbreviations: IMRT, intensity-modulated radiotherapy; OR, odds ratio.

a

Models adjusted for treatment year, age, comorbid disease, history of chemotherapy, axillary lymph node involvement, use of intensity-modulated radiotherapy, density of radiation oncologists, population density of county of residence, percent of resident with less than high school degree, and median household income in the county of residence.

b

Per 1 year.

c

Excludes malignancy and ranges from 0 to 25; higher scores indicate greater comorbid disease.

d

Unknown cases excluded from multivariable analyses.

e

Per 1 radiation oncologist per 100 000 residents by hospital service area.

f

Per 1 percentage point.