Artikel: Objective and subjective socioeconomic status and health symptoms in patients following hematopoietic stem cell transplantation
Door annelies_verachtert op Woe, 30/07/2014 - 00:00
Abstract: Recent research indicates that subjective socioeconomic status (SES) – the perception of one’s own SES compared with other people – is an important predictor of cancer-related health out- comes. Subjective SES may function as a psychosocial mechanism by which objective SES affects health, well-being, and, more broadly, quality of life among cancer survivors. This study tested whether the association between objective SES and indicators of quality of life was mediated by sub- jective SES in a sample of cancer survivors who had undergone hematopoietic stem cell transplantation.
Methods: Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation survivors (N = 268) completed measures of objec- tive and subjective SES, along with four measures related to quality of life (depressive symptoms, health-related quality of life, symptoms of generalized distress, and posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms).
Results: Higher objective SES was associated with greater quality of life across all four measures. Subjective SES mediated the relationship between objective SES and depressive symptoms (total indi- rect effect b = 0.09, 95% confidence interval [CI] [0.15, 0.05]), generalized distress (total indirect effect b = 0.08, 95% CI [0.13, 0.04]), health-related quality of life (total indirect effect b = 0.10, 95% CI [0.06, 0.17]), and posttraumatic stress disorder (total indirect effect b=0.08, 95% CI [0.14, 0.04]).
Conclusions: Findings extend work on subjective SES to cancer and suggest that SES gradients in patient outcomes after cancer may reflect not only material resources but also psychosocial factors re- lated to rank within social hierarchies. Further research may provide insights useful for reducing dis- parities in this population.
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