Socio-Economic Status Inequity in Self Rated Health in Patients with Breast Cancer

Majid Taheri; Mohammad Tavakol; Mohammad Esmaeil Akbari; Abolfazl Mohammadbeigi; Mahmoud Abbasi

doi:10.3889/oamjms.2019.028

Socio-Economic Status Inequity in Self Rated Health in Patients with Breast Cancer

Open Access Maced J Med Sci. 2019 Jan 14;7(1):152-156. doi: 10.3889/oamjms.2019.028. eCollection 2019 Jan 15.

Authors

Majid Taheri¹, Mohammad Tavakol², Mohammad Esmaeil Akbari³, Abolfazl Mohammadbeigi⁴, Mahmoud Abbasi¹

Affiliations

¹ Medical Ethics and Law Research Center, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
² Sociology Department, School of Social Sciences, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran.
³ Cancer Research Center (CRC), Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
⁴ Neurology and Neuroscience Research Center, Qom University of Medical Sciences, Qom, Iran.

Abstract

Aim: We investigate the evaluation of socio-economic status (SES) inequality on self-rated health (SRH) at women with breast cancer.

Study design: Cross-sectional study.

Methods: The current study conducted on all 270 breast cancer patients that were admitted to one of the hospitals of Arak University Medical Sciences (Arak, Iran from April to July 2018) by census (using non-random sampling (accessible sampling). SES was calculated by asset-based questionnaire and Principle Component Analysis (PCA) was performed to estimate the families' SES. Concentration Index (C) and Curve (CC) was used to measure SES inequality in SRH. The data were analysed with Stata software.

Results: The number of persons with good SRH by the level of SES was 165 (61.1%) and with poor SRH was 105 (38.9%). The number of persons with good SRH in comparison to same-aged people by level of SES was 135 (50%) and with poor SRH was 135 (50%). Concentration index of SRH in all level of SES was 0.061 (SE = 0.03). Also, Concentration index for SRH in comparison to same-aged people at different levels of SES was -0.044 (SE = 0.03).

Conclusion: The results of this study showed that there is inequality in SRH in a patient with breast cancer of the richest level of SES.

Keywords: Concentration Index; Inequality; Iran; Self-Related Health; Socio-Economic Status.