AB036. SOH25_AB_254. The effect of socioeconomic disparity on breast cancer outcomes: a retrospective cohort study

Background: The impact of social deprivation in relation to cancer care and outcomes has been established in literature, with lower survival rates in patients with lower socioeconomic status. Breast cancer remains the most commonly diagnosed cancer in woman, after exclusion of non-melanoma skin cancer, accounting for almost 1 in 3 invasive cancers. In breast cancer, a paradox exists in which patients with higher socioeconomic status have a higher prevalence rate. This is in part due to higher screening attendance, although this does not account fully for the disparity. Deprived patients are also more likely to present with advanced stage and with worse prognoses. This relationship has not yet been extensively studied in the Irish population.

Methods: In this retrospective cohort study, we aim to explore the impact of social deprivation on breast cancer presentation, treatment, and outcomes of patients from our institution in the last five years through a prospectively maintained breast cancer database. A mixed-effects logistic regression analysis approach was utilised to determine the association between deprivation and various breast cancer outcomes. Social deprivation was determined by entering the patients’ home Eircode into the publicly available Pobal HP Deprivation Index search engine.

Results: In our study, patients with lower socioeconomic status were linked with overall worse prognosis.

Conclusions: This emphasizes the need to implement further strategies to address the social disparity in relation to breast cancer health care provision.

Keywords: Breast cancer; retrospective cohort study; Ireland; social deprivation; mixed-effects logistic regression analysis