Neighborhood-Level Social Vulnerability, Race and Ethnicity, and Stage at Diagnosis: A Population-Based Study of 12,957 Patients with Oral Cavity Cancer.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Oral cavity cancer (OCC) is marked by racial and ethnic disparities. We examined these differences in OCC stage at diagnosis and whether neighborhood-level social vulnerability, a measure of susceptibility to hardship at the census-tract level, modifies disparities.

Methods

We identified adults newly diagnosed with OCC (1995 to 2020) from the Texas Cancer Registry. We estimated the association between stage at diagnosis and race and ethnicity using logistic regression and assessed effect modification by neighborhood-level social vulnerability.

Results

The sample included 12,957 reported OCC cases, 77% non-Hispanic White, 6% non-Hispanic Black, and 14% Hispanic patients, and 47.4% late stage at diagnosis. Non-Hispanic Black (OR 3.30; 95% CI 2.81, 3.88), Hisp

SUBMITTER: Tortolero GA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12781143 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature