Marital status independently predicts the overall survival in young adult patients with lymphoma: A population-based, propensity-matched study

Abstract

We predicted that marital status may have predictive effects on young adult patients with cancer. A total of 37,028 young adult patients (20–39 years old) newly diagnosed with lymphoma by positive histology between 1988 and 2015 were collected from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results database. Patients were separated into married and unmarried groups. Multivariate regression was utilized to explore the association between marital status and overall survival, and propensity score matching and an inverse probability of treatment weighting were applied to corroborate our results. Among 37,028 eligible lymphoma patients, 12,827 married patients, and 12,827 unmarried patients, had equal propensity scores and were eventually recruited in this research. Moreover, married patients reported enhanced 10-year overall survival in the original group and the matched cohort. The multivariable Cox regression analysis revealed a vital advantageous influence of married status on overall mortality, with an adjusted hazard ratio (HR) of 0.54 (95% CI, 0.51–0.57, P < .001) and the association remained robust after propensity score matching (HR, 0.53, 95% CI 0.51–0.55, P < .001) and inverse probability of treatment weighting (HR, 0.53, 95% CI 0.51–0.56, P < .001) after adjusting for confounding factors. Marital status had predictive significance for overall survival in young adult patients with lymphoma.