techniques (Hollingshead, 1957). The social position scores

were then divided into a hierarchy of score groups as

suggested by Hollingshead. This resulted in the assignment

of each subject to one of five socioeconomic classes.

Biological, medical, and disease information

 Two instruments were used for the collection of

biological, medical, and disease information. The first was

the medical abstract completed by hospital Tumor Registry

staff. This medical abstract was discussed in Part I of this

chapter.

 The Index of Co-Morbidity. The second instrument was

one developed specifically for use in this study to yield a

measure of "co-morbidity." It is included as Appendix C.

Each subject's primary physician was asked to complete this

rating scale after the patient's death. The scale provided

an estimate of the degree to which existing and pre-existing

medical conditions other than cancer contributed to the

patient's survival.

 The scale called for a rating of (a) the extent to

which conditions of the nine major body systems may have

contributed to or hastened the patient's death, and (b) the

extent to which conditions of the nine major body systems may

have negatively influenced the effectiveness of treatment for

the cancer. Each response was given in terms of very much,