Statistical methods
All statistical procedures were processed with SPSS 23.0 statistical
software (SPSS, Inc., Chicago, IL, USA). Between-group differences in
the baseline characteristics were assessed through independent
two-sample t tests or Pearson’s chi-squared test. Quantitative data are
shown as the mean ± standard deviation (x ± s), and nominal-scale data
are shown as percentages (%). The 5-year OS and DFS rates of LRH and
ARH were calculated and compared using the Kaplan–Meier curve and the
log-rank test. A Cox proportional hazards model was used to estimate HRs
and 95% confidence intervals for the effect of treatment on 5-year OS
and DFS; known factors that may affect the oncological outcome of
cervical cancer were included in this multivariate model to adjust for
case mix, including age, hospital type, region, city class, finance,
year, histology, LVSI, stromal invasion, uterine corpus invasion,
parametrial tumor involvement, surgical margin invasion, lymph node
metastasis, preoperative treatment condition, and postoperative adjuvant
treatment. Propensity score matching (PSM, 1:1) was used to balance
differences in the data analysis; the variables included were the same
as those above. A P value <0·05 from two-sided tests was
regarded as significant.