Zdislav Skvarciany
Abstract
Breast cancer is the most frequent cancer in women. During the last two decades, survival rates for breast cancer have increased as a result of earlier detection and increased use of adjuvant therapy.
The purpose of this study was to compare morbidity and disability of breast cancer in 60 small administrative units of the country, using progressive mapping techniques and to find relationship with those closely related indices, using correlation in space procedure under hypothesis – in the 60 counties must be positive relationship between incidence of breast cancer and disability from this disease – i.e. in the counties with higher incidence must be higher incidence of primary detected disability.
Methods. The primary information for this study was obtained from Lithuanian cancer registry and official disability cases from Disability Assessment Service under Ministry of Social Security and Labour. Age adjustment was calculated using Winpepi software. Variability of the rates was measured using coefficient of variation. Spatial relationship between breast cancer incidence and disability rates was measured using nonparametric correlation – Spearman, (Rho).
Results. Study data showing wide variation of the breast cancer incidence in small administrative areas. However, correlation between age adjusted incidence and age adjusted disability rates was positive, statistically significant. This showing that our hypothesis was partially true. This relationship was conditioned by the fact, that some of counties inverse correlation was found, showing that in those small territories another relationship exist, i.e. we found territories in which is high incidence and low disability and vice versa.
Conclusions. It was found some inequalities of the age adjusted morbidity and disability in 60 small counties of the country. The correlation between incidence and disability rates was statistically significant (ρ=0.637, p<0.001). This was due the fact, that in some counties the inverse correlation, which was difficult to interpret, was found. Our investigation suggests that more and deeper studies needed to understand this phenomenon, reasons of which can by objective and subjective.
Keyword(s): Incidence, morbidity, disability, breast cancer, counties, geographical distribution,variability.
DOI: 10.5200/213
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