Children with inoperable brain tumors may die sooner if they live in areas with lower average income and education levels, a Michigan Medicine-led study finds.
The study covered nearly 100 patients seen for diffuse midline glioma and diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma, known respectively as DMG and DIPG, between 2000 and 2022.
Patients from higher income census tracts, meaning over half of families have an annual household income over $50,000, had a median survival time of nearly 16 months — more than twice as long as patients from lower income tracts.
Families of children from higher income areas, as well as those from census tracts with higher levels of education, also traveled further to receive treatment.
The results are published in the Journal of Neurosurgery, an official journal of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons.
The findings are in line with other studies suggesting that factors linked to socioeconomic status are associated with health outcomes, particularly in brain tumors.
Income and educational attainment, the researchers suggest, may affect the landscape of diagnosis and treatment of brain tumors.
