Aim: To establish the link between incidence rates of cancer and selected socio-economic variables.
Introduction: Geographical analysis of cancer incidence rates shows significant regional diversity and can be viewed as an approximation of the actual risk of particular types of cancer.
Methods: The absolute numbers of new registered cases of lung, breast and colon cancer in Poland in 2014 by voivodeships (Polish provinces) were obtained from the Polish National Cancer Registry. The situation in individual voivodeships in terms of social isolation, social capital, religious activity and poverty was assessed based on the results of the Polish Social Cohesion Survey for 2015. The Spearman's rank correlation coefficient (rS) was used to test the association between incidence rates of types of cancer (number of cases/100 inhabitants) and social variables. The significance level was set at p<0.05 (2-tailed tests).
Results: Spearman's correlation analysis showed a statistically significant strong positive correlation between lung cancer risk and: social isolation (rS=0.73; p<0.0013), living conditions poverty (rS=0.55; p=0.028), poverty resulting from the lack of budget balance (rS=0.72; p=0.0015), and low/no involvement in religious activity (rS=0.7; p=0.003). Strong negative correlation with rS=−0.64 and p<0.008 exists between lung cancer risk and high level of association-based social capital. In colon cancer, only negative correlation between colon cancer risk and high level of friend- and neighbour-based social capital (rS=−0.56; p=0.020) was statistically significant. Breast cancer risk was statistically significant for strong negative correlation with high level of friend- and neighbour-based social capital (rS=−0.74; p=0.0009) and for a fairly strong positive correlation with low/no involvement in religious activity (rS=0.53; p=0.04).
Conclusion: Our findings provide important evidence for the link between social and economic environment and the risk of most common cancer sites in Poland, and highlight the need to address these determinants as part of national cancer preventive programs.