Stent insertion for palliation of advanced oesophageal carcinoma symptoms by level of socioeconomic disadvantage in urban New South Wales

Missing data: In the letter “Stent insertion for palliation of advanced oesophageal carcinoma symptoms by level of socioeconomic disadvantage in urban New South Wales” in the 3 June 2013 issue of the Journal (Med J Aust 2013; 198: 531-532), some data were missing. Since publication, an additional nine cases of stenting during the study period have been identified. With these additional data, the corrected second paragraph and Box are as follows: “Of the 479 patients who were diagnosed with primary advanced oesophageal carcinoma before death and for whom linked hospital records were available, 30.3% (145 patients) received stents. The proportion who received stents decreased with increasing disadvantage (P = 0.03 for association; P = 0.003 for trend). After adjustment for patient and tumour characteristics, greater disadvantage remained significantly associated with decreasing odds of stent insertion (Box) (P = 0.02 for association; P = 0.002 for trend). Dysphagia or oesophageal obstruction was reported for some patients and was associated with receiving a stent (χ2 test, P < 0.001) but not associated with level of socioeconomic disadvantage (χ2 test, P = 0.37). As this information is more likely to be reported for those who received a stent, it was not included in the multivariable analysis of association between stenting and socioeconomic disadvantage.”

Jason P Bentley Biostatistician1

David E Goldsbury Statistician2

Guy D Eslick Associate Professor of Surgery and Cancer Epidemiology3

Michael R Cox Professor of Surgery3

Dianne L O’Connell Senior Epidemiologist2