Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34649500›Full record

ArticleBMC cancer2021

Socioeconomic position and prediagnostic health care contacts in children with cancer in Denmark: a nationwide register study.

Line Hjøllund Pedersen, Friederike Erdmann, Gitte Lerche Aalborg, Lisa Lyngsie Hjalgrim, Hanne Bækgaard Larsen, Kjeld Schmiegelow, Jeanette Falck Winther, Susanne Oksbjerg Dalton

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in BMC cancer, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
8citing papers in PubMed
2.7field-weighted citation impact, top 10% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

8 citing papers in PubMed, 12 citations in OpenAlex.

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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.

Line Hjøllund PedersenDepartment of Paediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen, Denmark. lipe@cancer.dk.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7305-098X
Friederike ErdmannDivision of Childhood Cancer Epidemiology, Institute for Medical Biostatistics, Epidemiology and Informatics (IMBEI), Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Mainz, Germany.
Gitte Lerche AalborgStatistics and Data Analysis, Danish Cancer Society Research Center, Copenhagen, Denmark.
Lisa Lyngsie HjalgrimDepartment of Paediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen, Denmark.
Hanne Bækgaard LarsenDepartment of Paediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen, Denmark.
Kjeld SchmiegelowDepartment of Paediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen, Denmark.
Jeanette Falck WintherChildhood Cancer, Danish Cancer Society Research Center, Copenhagen, Denmark.
Susanne Oksbjerg DaltonSurvivorship and Inequality in Cancer, Danish Cancer Society Research Center, Copenhagen, Denmark.
University of Copenhagen · DKDanish Cancer Society · DKRigshospitalet · DKJohannes Gutenberg University Mainz · DE

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundWhile underlying mechanisms and pathways of social inequalities in cancer survival have been extensively examined in adults, this is less so for children with cancer. Hypothesized mechanisms include prediagnostic utilization of and navigation through the health care system, which may differ by socioeconomic resources of the families. In this nationwide register-based study we investigated the association between measures of family socioeconomic position in relation to prediagnostic health care contacts and stage of disease at diagnosis in children with cancer in Denmark.

methodsWe identified all children diagnosed with a cancer at ages 0-15 years in 1998-2016 (N = 3043) from the Danish Childhood Cancer Registry. We obtained comprehensive information on measures of socioeconomic position, parental health and prediagnostic contacts to both general practitioners and hospitals 24 months prior to diagnosis from various national registries. We fitted multivariable conditional logistic regression models for the association of family socioeconomic and health-related variables with firstly, frequent health care contacts and secondly, advanced stage.

resultsWe found higher odds ratios (OR) of frequent both overall and emergency health care contacts in the last 3 months before diagnosis in children from households with short parental education and mixed affiliation to work market, when compared to children with high family socioeconomic position. Further, children of parents with depression or of non-Western origin, respectively, had higher OR for frequent overall and emergency contacts. We found no association between socioeconomic position, parental health and stage of disease.

conclusionFamilies with socioeconomic disadvantage, non-Western origin or depression more frequently utilize prediagnostic health care services, both generally and in the acute setting, indicating that some disadvantaged families may struggle to navigate the health care system when their child is sick. Reassuringly, this was not reflected in disparities in stage at diagnosis. In order to improve the diagnostic process and potentially reduce health care contacts, attention and support should be given to families with a high number of health care contacts over a short period of time.

Indexed as

RegistriesSocioeconomic FactorsAdolescentChildChild, PreschoolDenmarkEducational StatusEmergency Service, HospitalFathersFemaleHealth Services Needs and DemandHumansInfantInfant, NewbornMaleMaternal AgeChildhoodChildhood cancerDenmarkDiagnosisPrediagnostic contactsRegister studySocial inequalitySocioeconomic positionStage

Identifiers

PMID34649500
PMCPMC8518314
OpenAlexW3205568792

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.