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. 2021 Nov 25;148(11):2971–2984. doi: 10.1007/s00432-021-03856-4

Table 2.

Characteristics of rectal cancer cases diagnosed during 2006–2013 among 45 and Up Study participants, NSW Australia

By neighbourhood socioeconomic measure
Total nSES 1 (Lowest) nSES 2 nSES 3 nSES 4 (Highest) p value*
No. of cases 546 134 (25%) 166 (30%) 145 (27%) 101 (18%)
Patients’ characteristics
 Age at diagnosis mean (SD), years 67.2 (9.2) 69.5 (8.5) 66.9 (8.9) 66.8 (9.4) 64.9 (9.7) 0.0012
 Male, n (%) 356 (65.2%) 95 (70.9%) 99 (59.6%) 94 (64.8%) 68 (67.3%) 0.22
Marital status 0.0024
 Married/de facto 383 (70.1%) 77 (57.5%) 120 (72.3%) 108 (74.5%) 78 (77.2%)
Private health insurance  < 0.0001
 Yes 316 (57.9%) 53 (39.6%) 96 (57.8%) 90 (62.1%) 77 (76.2%)
Residence  < 0.0001
 Major cities 249 (45.6%) 36 (26.9%) 53 (31.9%) 83 (57.2%) 77 (76.2%)
 Non-major cities 297 (54.4%) 98 (73.1%) 113 (68.1%) 62 (42.8%) 24 (23.8%)
Charlson Comorbidity Index 0.015
 0 448 (80.1%) 104 (77.6%) 130 (78.3%) 121 (83.5%) 93 (92.1%)
 ≥ 1 98 (17.9%) 30 (22.4%) 36 (21.7%) 24 (16.6%) 8 (7.9%)
Lifestyle factors
 Tobacco smoking 0.41
  Ever smoker 136 (24.9%) 32 (32.9%) 48 (28.9%) 36 (24.8%) 20 (19.8%)
  Never smoker 410 (75.1%) 102 (76.1%) 118 (71.1%) 109 (75.2%) 81 (80.2%)
 Alcoholic drinks (per week) 0.46
  0 164 (30.0%) 44 (32.8%) 53 (31.9%) 44 (30.3%) 23 (22.8%)
  1–14 273 (50.0%) 57 (42.5%) 86 (51.8%) 76 (52.4%) 54 (53.5%)
  > 14 105 (18.9%) 31 (23.1%) 26 (15.7%) 23 (15.9%) 23 (22.8%)
  Missing 6 (1.1%)
Moderate/vigorous physical activity 0.032
 Sedentary 32 (5.9%)
 Insufficient 85 (15.6%) 22 (16.4%) 30 (18.1%) 25 (17.2%) 8 (7.9%)
 Sufficient 98 (17.9%) 22 (16.4%) 33 (19.9%) 25 (17.2%) 18 (17.8%)
 High 314 (57.5%) 81 (60.5%) 78 (47.0%) 86 (59.3%) 69 (68.2%)
 Unspecified 17 (3.1%)
Body mass index 0.029
 Normal 181 (33.2%) 37 (27.6%) 50 (30.1%) 47 (32.4%) 47 (46.5%)
 Overweight 203 (37.2%) 51 (38.1%) 59 (35.5%) 57 (39.3%) 36 (35.6%)
 Obese 131 (24.0%) 37 (27.6%) 47 (28.3%) 34 (23.5%) 13 (12.9%)
 Missing 31 (5.7%) 9 (6.7%) 10 (6.0%) 7 (4.8%) 5 (5.0%)
Disease-related factors
 Cancer stage 0.069
  Localised 191 (35.0%) 53 (39.6%) 53 (31.9%) 51 (35.2%) 34 (33.7%)
  Regional 227 (41.6%) 46 (34.3%) 73 (44.0%) 62 (42.8%) 46 (45.5%)
  Distant 80 (14.7%) 25 (18.7%) 27 (16.3) 22 (15.2%) 6 (5.9%)
  Unknown 48 (8.8%) 10 (7.5%) 13 (7.8%) 10 (6.9%) 15 (14.9%)
Emergency presentation (prior to diagnosis)
 2-weeks prior 26 (4.8%) 0.06
Treatment-related factors
 Surgery in 6 months 431 (78.9%) 98 (73.1%) 130 (78.3%) 122 (84.1%) 81 (80.2%) 0.16
 Systemic therapy in 6 months 255 (46.7%) 58 (43.3%) 83 (50.0%) 70 (48.3%) 44 (43.6%) 0.59
 Radiation therapy in 6 months 158 (28.9%) 37 (27.6%) 56 (33.7%) 40 (27.6%) 25 (24.8%) 0.40
By individual level SES
Total Low Medium High p value*
No. of cases ˄ 538 196 (36%) 128 (24%) 214 (40%)
Patients’ characteristics
 Age at diagnosis mean (SD), years 67.0 (9.2) 68.7 (8.8) 67.9 (9.1) 65.0 (9.2)  < 0.0001
 Male, n (%) 351 (65.2%) 111 (56.6%) 96 (75.0%) 144 (67.3%) 0.0023
Marital status 0.12
 Married/de facto 377 (70.1%) 127 (64.8%) 92 (71.9%) 158 (73.8%)
Private health insurance  < 0.0001
 Yes 312 (58.0%) 88 (44.9%) 72 (56.3%) 152 (71.0%)
Residence 0.0062
 Major cities 247 (45.9%) 73 (37.2%) 61 (47.7%) 113 (52.8%)
 Non-major cities 291 (54.1%) 123 (62.8%) 67 (52.3%) 101 (47.2%)
Charlson comorbidity index 0.34
 0 443 (82.3%) 160 (81.6%) 101 (78.9%) 182 (85.0%)
 ≥ 1 95 (17.0%) 36 (18.4%) 27 (21.1%) 32 (15.0%)
Lifestyle factors
 Tobacco smoking 0.94
  Ever smoker 136 (25.3%) 51 (26.0%) 31 (24.2%) 54 (25.2%)
  Never smoker 402 (74.7%) 145 (74.0%) 97 (75.8%) 160 (75.8%)
 Alcoholic drinks (per week) 0.23
  0 162 (30.1%) 72 (36.7%) 30 (23.4%) 60 (28.0%)
  1–14 269 (50.0%) 86 (43.9%) 69 (52.6%) 114 (53.3%)
  > 14 101 (18.8%) 36 (18.4%) 27 (21.1%) 38 (17.8%)
  Missing 6 (1.1%)
Moderate/vigorous physical activity 0.13
 Sedentary 32 (5.9%) 14 (7.1%) 11 (8.8%) 7 (3.3%)
 Insufficient 84 (15.6%) 39 (19.9%) 16 (12.5%) 29 (13.6%)
 Sufficient 98 (18.2%) 37 (18.9%) 19 (14.8%) 42 (19.3%)
 High 309 (57.4%) 99 (50.5%) 79 (61.7%) 131 (61.2%)
 Unspecified 15 (2.8%)
Body mass index 0.0019
 Normal 176 (32.7%) 50 (25.5%) 41 (32.0%) 85 (39.7%)
 Overweight 201 (37.4%) 66 (33.7%) 53 (41.4%) 82 (38.37%)
 Obese 130 (24.2%) 63 (32.1%) 28 (22.9%) 39 (18.2%)
 Missing 31 (5.8%) 17 (8.7%) 6 (4.7%) 8 (3.7%)
Disease-related factors
 Cancer stage 0.11
  Localised 188 (34.6%) 65 (33.2%) 41 (32.0%) 82 (38.3%)
  Regional 224 (41.6%) 80 (40.8%) 55 (43.0%) 89 (41.6%)
  Distant 79 (14.7%) 39 (19.9%) 18 (14.1%) 22 (10.3%)
  Unknown 47 (8.7%) 12 (6.1%) 14 (10.9%) 21 (9.8%)
Emergency presentation (prior to diagnosis)
 2-weeks prior 26 (4.8%) 10 (4.7%) 0.46
Treatment-related factors
 Surgery in 6 months 425 (79.0%) 144 (73.5%) 97 (75.8%) 184 (86.0%) 0.0048
 Systemic therapy in 6 months 252 (46.8%) 83 (42.4%) 59 (46.1%) 110 (51.4%) 0.18
 Radiation therapy in 6 months 156 (29.0%) 48 (24.5%) 40 (31.3%) 68 (31.8%) 0.22

*p value for F test for continuous variables and χ2 test for categorical variables

˄Eight cases with missing values for individual-level SES

Never smoker includes those former smokers who quit > 15 years ago