Elderly breast and colorectal cancer patients' clinical course: patient and contextual influences.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The social and medical environments that surround people are each independently associated with their cancer course. The extent to which these characteristics may together mediate patients' cancer care and outcomes is not known.

Methods

Using multilevel methods and data, we studied elderly breast and colorectal cancer patients (level I) within urban social (level II: ZIP code tabulation area) and health care (level III: hospital service area) contexts. We sought to determine (1) which, if any, observable social and medical contextual attributes were associated with patient cancer outcomes after controlling for observable patient attributes, and (2) the magnitude of residual variation in patient cancer outcomes at each level.

Results

Numerous patient attribu

SUBMITTER: Lamont EB 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4159676 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature