Marital Status as an Independent Prognostic Factor in Patients with Glioblastoma: A Population-Based Study

This study was aimed to investigate the effects of marital status on overall survival (OS) and cancer-specific survival (CSS) in patients with glioblastoma (GBM) and to develop nomograms for predicting prognosis in GBM patients.

All patients were selected from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results cancer registry program. We used propensity score matching to balance the baseline characteristics of married and unmarried patients. The effects of marital status on OS and CSS were then assessed using Kaplan-Meier curves and Cox proportional hazard regression, and the magnitude of each factor was visualized in the form of forest maps. The impact of marriage on the survival of GBM patients was further explored by stratifying several demographic factors. Finally, the nomograms were constructed and verified based on Cox proportional risk regression model.

A total of 17,517 patients with GBM (11,818 married patients, 67.5%) were enrolled in the study cohort. After propensity score matching, there were 5699 patients in both the married and unmarried groups. Multivariate Cox regression analysis showed that both married and single patients had better OS (married: hazard ratio [HR] 0.824, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.788-0.862, P < 0.001; single: HR 0.764, 95% CI: 0.722-0.808, P < 0.001) and CSS (married: HR 0.833, 95% CI: 0.796-0.872, P < 0.001; single: HR 0.761, 95% CI: 0.718-0.806, P < 0.001) than divorced, separated, and widowed patients.

Marital status was an independent prognostic factor in patients with GBM. The nomograms constructed in this study could help medical professionals to provide personalized prognostic assessment and treatment decisions for patients with GBM.