Effect of Socioeconomic Disparities on Suicide Risk in Patients With Prostate Cancer During 2005 to 2020: A Population Study

A growing number of studies have reported mental health problems in men with prostate cancer. Relationships of median household income and ethnicity to suicide in prostate cancer are poorly characterized. A retrospective study from database data answered this question. Median household income and ethnicity are important factors strongly related to suicide risk in prostate cancer patients, and the lower median household income individuals and non-Spanish-Hispanic-L atino individuals were associated with higher suicide risk. Purpose: To determine whether socioeconomic disparities have an impact on the likelihood of suicide among prostate cancer patients. Methods: Data were extracted from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database for patients diagnosed with malignant prostate cancer between 2005 and 2020. The socioeconomic disparities of the patients were evaluated by median household income (MHI) and ethnicit y. Ethnicit y included Spanish-Hispanic-Latino and non-Spanish-Hispanic-Latino. A Cox proportional risk model was utilized. Using the Kaplan-Meier approach, the cumulative incidence of suicide mortality was measured. Results: A total of 857,418 US population with prostate cancer were included. In the multivariate analysis, individuals with MHI over $75,000 had a lower risk of suicide mortality than those with MHI between $54,999 and $74,999 in all patients (aHRs: 0.693, 95 CI%: 0.603-0.797). Spanish-HispanicLatino displayed lower overall suicide mortality in all patients (aHRs: 0.426, 95% CI: 0.323-0.561). In the subgroup analysis of different ages, individuals with MHI over $75,000 had a lower risk of suicide than those with MHI between $54,999 and $74,999 in patients 60 to 79 years (aHRs: 0.668, 95% CI: 0.562-0.794) and individuals with MHI below $54,999 had higher suicide risk than those with MHI between $54,999 and $74,999 in patients 80 + years (aHRs: 1.786, 95% CI: 1.100-2.902). Hispanic-Latino individuals had lower overall suicide mortality in 00 to 59 years (aHRs: 0.420, 95% CI: 0.240-0.734), 60 to 79 years (aHRs: 0.445, 95% CI: 0.319-0.621), 80 + years (aHRs: 0.363, 95% CI: 0.1330.988). Conclusion: Socioeconomic disparities, including MHI and ethnicity, are important factors strongly related to suicide risk in prostate cancer patients. The lower MHI individuals and non-Spanish-Hispanic-Latino individuals were associated with higher suicide risk.