Examining socio-spatial mobility patterns among colon cancer patients after diagnosis

Given the growing number of cancer survivors, it is important to better understand socio-spatial mobility patterns of cancer patients after diagnosis that could have public health implications regarding post-diagnostic access to care for treatment and follow-up surveillance. In this exploratory study, residential histories from LexisNexis were linked to New Jersey colon cancer cases diagnosed from 2006 to 2011 to examine differences in socio-spatial mobility patterns after diagnosis by stage at cancer diagnosis, sex, and race/ethnicity. For the colon cancer cases, we summarized and compared the number of residences and changes in the residential census tract and neighborhood poverty after the diagnosis. We found only minor changes in neighborhood poverty among the cases during the follow-up period after diagnosis. During the follow-up period of up to 10 years after diagnosis, 67% of the patients did not move to a different residential census tract, and 10.8% moved from New Jersey to another state. Cases that moved to a different census tract changed after diagnosis were generally less wealthy than non-movers, but the destination of relocation varied by race/ethnicity and socioeconomic status. We also found a significant association between residential mobility and stage at diagnosis, whereby patients diagnosed with colon cancer at an early stage were more likely to be movers. This study contributes to understanding of the socio-spatial mobility patterns in colon cancer patients and may help to inform cancer research by summarizing the extent to which colon cancer patients move after diagnosis.