Influence of Social Vulnerability in Treatment and Prognosis of Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the Tongue

Abstract

Objective: To investigate the association of social determinants of health (SDoH) in squamous cell carcinoma of the tongue in the United States and to evaluate the real-world contribution of specific disparities. Study Design: Retrospective cohort study. Setting: United States. Methods: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention-Social Vulnerability Index (SVI) and National Cancer Institute-Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Program database were used to study 62,103 adult tongue squamous cell carcinoma patients from 1975 to 2017. Regression analysis assessed trends in months of follow-up and survival across social vulnerability and 4 subcategories of social vulnerability. Results: As overall SVI score increases (increased social vulnerability), there is a significant decrease in the average length of follow-up (22.95% decrease from 63.99 to 49.31 months; P