Study of socio-demographic features on patients with hematologic malignancies

Along with demographic data, there exist no sufficient and regular statistical data on socio- economic status, cigarette and alcohol use, exposure to chemical substances that may play a role in the etiology of hematologic malignanciesIn our study, we evaluated demographic and socio-economic features, cigarette and alcohol use and exposure to chemical substances in cases residing in Manisa and nearby counties and diagnosed with hematologic maligancy after applying to the adult hematology department of our hospitalOf the 135 hematologic malignancy cases included in the study, 76 were men (56.3%) and 59 were women (43.7%). Number of women and men having AML were same while ratio of men to women was 6/5 in cases having ALL. Ratio of men to women in cases having KML, ET, PV and AMM were 7/6, 2/2, 2/3 and 0/2 respectively. There was a dominance of men in cases having KLL, HCL, HL, NHL and MM which are chronic lymphoproliferative disorders. Cases having MDS constituted the eldest patient group (median age 67) and there was a dominance of women in the said group (M/W ratio 2/5The ratios of living in city and rural area were 63.7% and 36.3% respectively. When compared to the population of Manisa, there was no statistical difference between them (p>0,05With respect to education status, the ratio of patients holding a secondary school or lesser degree and patients holding an upper degree were 87,4% and 12.6% resepctively, and these figures were found to be lower than the average of Turkey (secondary school and lower 83%, upper than secondary school 17%). When hematologic malignancies were evaluated individually, educational status of patients having ALL were statistically significantly higher compared to the other 11 diseases (p=0,01When occupations of the cases were evaluated, it was found that 89.8% of women were housewives and most of the men were unemployed (52.7%) or farmer (25The overall poverty ratio was 31.9%, with 23.2% in those living in city and 46.9% in those living in rural places. It was observed that poverty declines in cities and also paralel to an increase in education level. The poverty ratio of our cases (31.9%) being higher than the poverty ratio of Turkey (18.5%) indicated that frequency of hematologic malignancy may increase by an increase in poverty ratioIn our study, there was a statistically significant higher cigarette smoking ratio in KLPH group (53.2%) when compared to other groups (48.6% in Acute leukemia, 29.2% in KMPH, 28.6% in MDS). Moreover, it was found that the ratio of cigarette smoking in KLPH patients was much above the average of Turkey (31.9%). This finding connotes the idea that cigarette may be effective in developing KLPHWhen exposure to chemical substances (pesticide, benzene, insecticide, organic solvents, oil products, etc.) was evaluted in our patients, the ratio of patients exposed to chemical substances of 4 different groups was higher in KLPH group (33,9%) when compared to the other groups (8.6% in Acute leukemia, 12.5% in KMPH, 21.4% in MDS) and the said difference was found to be statistically significant (p=0,019As a result; it was thought to contribute to the present epidemiologic data on hematologic malignancies by regularly recording demographic data. In our study, hematologic malignancies were found to be paralel with low economic and socio-cultural levels and thus higher education levels and living conditions are needed to solve this problem.