Association between Socioeconomic Factors and the Risk of  Gastric Cancer Incidence: Results from an Ecological Study

Majid  Babaei; Habibollah Pirnejad; Jafar  Rezaie; Gholamreza  Roshandel; Rana  Hoseini

doi:10.18502/ijph.v52i8.13413

Majid Babaei Social Determinants of Health Research Center, Clinical Research Institute, Urmia University of Medical Sciences, Urmia, Iran
Habibollah Pirnejad Patient Safety Research Center, Clinical Research Institute, Urmia University of Medical Sciences, Urmia, Iran
Jafar Rezaie Solid Tumor Research Center, Cellular and Molecular Medicine Research Institute, Urmia University of Medical Sciences, Urmia, Iran
Gholamreza Roshandel Research Center of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Golestan University of Medical Sciences, Gorgan, Iran
Rana Hoseini Social Determinants of Health Research Center, Clinical Research Institute, Urmia University of Medical Sciences, Urmia, Iran

DOI: https://doi.org/10.18502/ijph.v52i8.13413

Keywords: Gastric cancer; Socioeconomic factors; Panel data; Income; Urbanization ratio

Abstract

Background: Gastric cancer (GC), one of the most common cancer worldwide, remains the third leading cause of cancer-related mortality. The etiology of GC may arise from genetic and environmental factors. This study aimed to determine the association between GC incidence and socioeconomic status in Iran.

Methods: An ecological study was designed to investigate the relationship between socioeconomic factors and the risk of GC incidence. The data of socioeconomic variables such as income changes, unemployment rate, urbanization ratio, inflation rate, and air pollution changes in 31 provinces were collected from the Statistical Center of Iran, and the data of GC of 31 provinces were provided from the Iranian National Population-based Cancer Registry (INPCR). Data from 2014 to 2017 was analyzed using panel data analysis, the fixed effects model by EViews software.

Results: Panel data model was suitable for the present study. Results showed that there was a positive and significant relationship between GC incidence and socioeconomic factors including income changes (P≤ 0.001), unemployment rate (P≤0.01), inflation rate (P≤ 0.05), and air pollution changes (P≤ 0.001). The urbanization ratio showed a negative relationship and was not statistically associated with GC incidence (P> 0.05).

Conclusion: Our findings suggest a positive and significant association between socioeconomic status and GC incidence, proposing a GC risk factor. The key public health policies and welfare policies' priority should therefore be to schedule for the GC management.