The Relation of Socioeconomic Factors to Incidence of Childhood Leukemia

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Abstract
The relationship between certain social and economic factors and the incidence of childhood leukemia in Colorado was studied from 1941 through 1959 Information was obtained from death certificates of 258 children, and U.S. Bureau of Census reports. The rate of reported cases of childhood leukemia increased from 1941 to 1959 The last 5 years (1955-59) showed a 2.7-fold increase over the first 5 years (1941-45) of this period. The leukemia death rate appeared to be about 2 1/2 times higher for urban children than for those living in rural Colorado. In the large urban area of Denver, the incidence of leukemia was 2 to almost 4 times higher in children living in the census tracts that were socially and economically more favored compared with children of low-income families from census tracts with the poorest housing conditions. No single social factor among those studied showed a significantly higher correlation than the others. A constituent relationship of childhood leukemia with these social and economic factors was found by various methods of analysis. Although the true significance of these differences is difficult to determine, a number of possible etiologic factors might explain such a pattern. These include the genetic or ethnic background of the children, the influence of variations in diet and in exposure to various physical agents such as X-rays, and differences in exposure to infections including enteric viruses.