TABLE 2.

Factors associated with lack of treatment for older patients diagnosed with regional esophageal cancer, SEER-MEDICARE 2001–2009

Factor	OR (95% CI)	p
Year
2007–2009	Reference
2001–2003	1.17 (0.99–1.37)	0.063
2004–2006	1.02 (0.87–1.2)	0.777
SEER region
NE	Reference
MW	0.92 (0.7–1.21)	0.55
S	1.49 (1.17–1.9)	0.001
W	2.59 (2.14–3.13)	<0.001
Age, y
65–69	Reference
70–74	1.18 (0.95–1.45)	0.131
75–79	1.56 (1.27–1.93)	<0.001
≥80	2.30 (1.86–2.84)	<0.001
Sex
Female	Reference
Male	0.92 (0.77–1.09)	0.324
Race
White	Reference
Black	1.27 (0.9–1.78)	0.168
Othera	0.88 (0.66–1.17)	0.377
Marital statusb
Married	Reference
Single (never married)	1.24 (0.96–1.62)	0.105
Divorced	1.25 (0.96–1.62)	0.102
Widowed	1.26 (1.05–1.51)	0.014
Median household incomec
Q4	Reference
Q3	1.05 (0.85–1.31)	0.634
Q2	0.87 (0.68–1.11)	0.259
Q1	0.84 (0.64–1.11)	0.218
At least 12 y of educationc
Q4	Reference
Q3	1.19 (0.97–1.46)	0.096
Q2	1.59 (1.27–2.00)	<0.001
Q1	1.73 (1.34–2.23)	<0.001
Charlson comorbidity index
0	Reference
1	0.37 (0.31–0.44)	<0.001
≥2	0.4 (0.33–0.49)	<0.001
Barrett’s Esophagus	0.19 (0.14–0.24)	<0.001
Histology
Adenocarcinoma	Reference	0.398
Squamous cell carcinoma	0.9 (0.72–1.14)
Differentiation
Well/moderate	Reference
Poor/undifferentiated	1.06 (0.92–1.22)	0.453
Unknown	1.04 (0.83–1.3)	0.722

SEER, Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results; OR, Odd Ratio; CI, Confidence Interval.

^aAsian, Hispanic, and Native American.

^bUnknown: 388 patients.

^cDefined using United States Census Bureau zip code data and categorized into quartiles.