Possible contribution of sociodemographic parameters of cancer patients to chemotherapy related mortality and morbidity rate

Possible Contribution of Sociodemographic Parameters of Cancer Patients to Chemotherapy Related Mortality and Morbidity Rate Chemotherapy related side effects can be divided into class side effects like the nausea, vomitting, myelosupression, mucositis, neuropathy, diarrhea and idiosyncratic reactions which can not be predicted before. These side effects can be resulted with significant morbidity and mortality beside the cancer itself. So, choosing patients those who had higher risk of developing significant side effects is one of the key for preventing significant morbidities and even mortality. Although literature is full of data which showed significant relation between tumor, chemotherapy regimens and treatment related toxicities. However, to the best of our knowledge, there is no study that particularly evaluate possible role of sociodemographic characteristic chemotherapy related side effects. The main aim of this study is look for whether some important patient's sociodemographic factors significantly related with chemotherapy side effects or not. There were 114 (% 45.8) male and 135 (% 54.2) female patients in whole group. Median age was 52 years old (range 18-85). Statistical analysis showed that there were significant relation between educational status and mucositis (p=0.03), infection rate (p=0.02), and thrombocytopenia (p=0.01). Grade 3-4 chemotherapy related side effects (p=0.001) and hematological toxicity (p=0.003) statistically higher in patients older than 65 years old compared to patients younger than 65 years old. Also, statistical analysis showed significantly increased incidence rate of grade 3-4 chemotherapy related side effects (p=0.003), nausea, vomitting (p=0.01) and acute renal failure (p=0.001) in hospitalized people compared to out-patient clinic. Statistical analysis failed to show any significantly important relation between patients other sociodemographic charecteristics and chemoteharpy related side effects (p> 0.05). In conclusion, this study showed that only age and educational status had significant effect on chemotherapy toxicities. So, this study suggest that sociodemographic characteristics may be another important factor beside the tumor and treatment characteristics in decision-making process of cancer patients. Key Words: Chemotherapy, toxicity, sociodemographic characteristics, morbidity, mortality