Skip to main content

Table 1 Associations of potential factors with NPC stage at diagnosis

From: Potential factors associated with clinical stage of nasopharyngeal carcinoma at diagnosis: a case–control study

Variable

NPC stage at diagnosis [cases (%)]

Crude OR (95% CI)

Adjusted OR (95% CI)a

Early stage

Late stage

Education level

 Middle school or lower

45 (38.1)

132 (48.2)

1.00

1.00

 High school or higher

73 (61.9)

142 (51.8)

0.56 (0.33–0.95)*

0.58 (0.32–1.05)

Occupation

 Unskilled workers

22 (18.6)

67 (24.5)

1.00

1.00

 Skilled workers

75 (63.6)

144 (52.5)

0.52 (0.28–0.98)*

0.57 (0.27–1.22)

 Retired or unemployed

21 (17.8)

63 (23.0)

0.95 (0.44–2.06)

0.99 (0.42–2.32)

Working hours per weekb

 0–30

33 (28.2)

87 (31.8)

1.00

1.00

 31–50

48 (41.0)

91 (33.2)

0.70 (0.38–1.28)

0.75 (0.38–1.48)

 51 or more

36 (30.8)

96 (35.0)

0.95 (0.50–1.78)

0.81 (0.40–1.63)

Insurance

 UBMI1

72 (61.0)

168 (61.3)

1.00

1.00

 NRCMS

37 (31.4)

86 (31.4)

1.13 (0.58–2.22)

1.14 (0.50–2.60)

 UBMI2

6 (5.1)

4 (1.5)

0.25 (0.07–0.91)*

0.31 (0.08–1.23)

 Others

3 (2.5)

16 (5.8)

2.60 (0.72–9.41)

2.10 (0.51–8.62)

Number of family membersc

 First tertile (1–2)

12 (10.3)

52 (19.0)

1.00

1.00

 Second tertile (3–4)

75 (64.7)

129 (47.1)

0.41 (0.21–0.82)*

0.48 (0.23–0.98)*

 Third tertile (≥5)

29 (25.0)

93 (33.9)

0.73 (0.34–1.55)

0.83 (0.37–1.86)

Residence ownershipd

 No

18 (15.4)

31 (11.3)

1.00

1.00

 Yes

99 (84.6)

243 (88.7)

1.35 (0.73–2.49)

1.77 (0.81–3.88)

Residence structure

 Bungalow

31 (26.3)

88 (32.1)

1.00

1.00

 House

22 (18.6)

51 (18.6)

0.82 (0.43–1.55)

1.04 (0.51–2.12)

 Apartment

64 (54.2)

133 (48.6)

0.68 (0.40–1.17)

0.99 (0.50–1.96)

 Others

1 (0.8)

2 (0.7)

0.69 (0.06–8.04)

0.68 (0.06–8.17)

Residence size (m2)

 First tertile (<100)

66 (56.0)

160 (58.4)

1.00

1.00

 Second tertile (100–120)

19 (16.0)

24 (8.8)

0.52 (0.27–1.02)

0.61 (0.29–1.29)

 Third tertile (>120)

33 (28.0)

90 (32.8)

1.15 (0.70–1.90)

1.13 (0.65–1.96)

Area per person (m2)e

 First tertile (<24)

27 (23.3)

82 (30.0)

1.00

1.00

 Second tertile (24–35)

50 (43.1)

96 (35.0)

0.60 (0.33–1.07)

0.64 (0.33–1.24)

 Third tertile (>35)

39 (33.6)

96 (35.0)

0.76 (0.42–1.38)

0.80 (0.41–1.55)

Appliance ownershipf

 Car

56 (48.7)

116 (42.3)

0.74 (0.46–1.20)

0.78 (0.47–1.29)

 Motorbike

63 (54.3)

97 (35.4)

0.45 (0.29–0.71)*

0.38 (0.23–0.64)*

 Computer

89 (76.7)

207 (75.5)

0.84 (0.46–1.53)

0.86 (0.45–1.63)

 Television

111 (95.7)

256 (93.4)

0.58 (0.20–1.66)

0.66 (0.22–2.03)

 Air conditioner

102 (87.9)

226 (82.5)

0.48 (0.22–1.05)

0.52 (0.23–1.19)

 Washing machine

97 (83.6)

227 (82.8)

0.86 (0.44–1.66)

0.93 (0.46–1.87)

 Vacuum cleaner

38 (32.8)

80 (29.2)

0.86 (0.54–1.36)

0.89 (0.54–1.45)

Wealth scoreg

 First tertile (<−3.9)

44 (37.3)

83 (30.3)

1.00

1.00

 Second tertile (−3.9 to 1.1)

38 (32.2)

93 (33.9)

1.29 (0.76–2.19)

1.26 (0.72–2.20)

 Third tertile (>1.1)

36 (30.5)

98 (35.8)

1.64 (0.90–2.99)

1.75 (0.88–3.47)

Family cancer history

 None

78 (66.1)

189 (69.0)

1.00

1.00

 NPC

18 (15.3)

36 (13.1)

0.86 (0.46–1.61)

0.78 (0.40–1.53)

 Other cancers

22 (18.6)

49 (17.9)

0.95 (0.54–1.67)

0.93 (0.51–1.72)

Smoking history

 Never smoker

74 (62.7)

160 (58.4)

1.00

1.00

 Former smoker

18 (15.3)

14 (5.1)

0.35 (0.14–0.85)*

0.29 (0.11–0.77)*

 Current smoker

26 (22.0)

100 (36.5)

1.72 (0.93–3.19)

1.75 (0.92–3.32)

Cigarette number per dayh

 <10

22 (51.2)

31 (27.2)

1.00

1.00

 10–30

19 (44.2)

66 (57.9)

2.87 (1.14–7.25)*

4.03 (1.11–14.68)*

 >30

2 (4.6)

17 (14.9)

6.04 (1.09–33.32)*

11.46 (1.26–103.91)*

Salted fish consumptioni

 Seldom or never

72 (61.5)

131 (48.0)

1.00

1.00

 Every month

25 (21.4)

70 (25.6)

1.58 (0.91–2.74)

1.53 (0.85–2.73)

 Every week

20 (17.1)

72 (26.4)

1.89 (1.07–3.34)*

1.71 (0.93–3.17)

Knowledge of NPC early symptoms

 No

40 (33.9)

138 (50.4)

1.00

1.00

 Yes

78 (66.1)

136 (49.6)

0.54 (0.35–0.83)*

0.60 (0.37–0.98)*

Knowledge of NPC risk factors

 No

88 (74.6)

223 (81.4)

1.00

1.00

 Yes

30 (25.4)

51 (18.6)

0.66 (0.38–1.12)

0.74 (0.42–1.31)

Physical examination

 Never

51 (43.2)

167 (60.9)

1.00

1.00

 Ever

67 (56.8)

107 (39.1)

0.40 (0.24–0.67)*

0.50 (0.28–0.89)*

Patient interval (months)

 ≤3

95 (80.5)

188 (68.6)

1.00

1.00

 >3

23 (19.5)

86 (31.4)

1.87 (1.13–3.11)*

1.83 (1.07–3.13)*

  1. OR odds ratio, CI confidence interval, UBMI1 urban basic medical insurance uncovering state-owned enterprise employees and government staffs, NRCMS new rural cooperative medical scheme, UBMI2 urban basic medical insurance of state-owned enterprise employees and government staffs
  2. * Statistically significant results
  3. aAdjusted for education level, wealth score, smoking history, salted fish consumption, and family cancer history. When one of these possible confounders was the variable of interest, the other possible confounders were adjusted
  4. bData was missing for one patient in the early stage group
  5. cData was missing for two patients in the early stage group
  6. dData was missing for one patient in the early stage group
  7. eData was missing for two patients in the early stage group
  8. fFor each appliance, the reference group comprised the subjects that did not own the appliance. The multivariate analysis of these appliance ownership variables was not adjusted for the wealth score
  9. gBecause appliances associated with higher wealth are located on the bottom half of the multiple correspondence analysis (MCA) graph, a lower score indicates a higher level of wealth
  10. hWe only included former and current smokers. The multivariate analysis of the number of cigarettes per day was not adjusted for the smoking history
  11. iData was missing for one patient in the early stage group and one in the late stage group
Back to article page

Cancer Communications

ISSN: 2523-3548

Contact us