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Ladislav K, Marek B. The geographical epidemiology of smoking-related premature mortality: a registry-based small-area analysis of the Czech death statistics. Spat Spatiotemporal Epidemiol 2022; 41:100501. [DOI: 10.1016/j.sste.2022.100501] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/18/2021] [Revised: 12/04/2021] [Accepted: 03/05/2022] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
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Davey G, Zhao X. Smoking and the City: A Travelogue in Yuxi. THE ASIA PACIFIC JOURNAL OF ANTHROPOLOGY 2021. [DOI: 10.1080/14442213.2021.1889652] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
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3
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Neighbourhood greenspace and smoking prevalence: Results from a nationally representative survey in England. Soc Sci Med 2020; 265:113448. [PMID: 33148395 DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2020.113448] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Revised: 09/08/2020] [Accepted: 10/13/2020] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE The current study investigated whether people are less likely to be smokers when they live in greener neighbourhoods, and whether such an association is attributable to lower rates of ever-smoking and/or higher rates of smoking cessation. METHOD Using a representative sample of the adult population of England (N = 8,059), we investigated the relationships between neighbourhood greenspace and three inter-related smoking outcomes (current smoking, ever-smoking and smoking cessation). RESULTS After controlling for a range of individual and area-level covariates, including socioeconomic status, income and education, living in the highest greenspace quartile was associated with a 20% lower prevalence of current smoking, compared to living in the lowest greenspace quartile (PR = 0.80, CI = 0.67, 0.96, p < .017). Neighbourhood greenspace was not significantly associated with ever-smoking. However, amongst ever-smokers, residing in the two highest quartiles of neighbourhood greenspace quartiles (vs. 1st quartile) was associated with a 10% and 12% higher prevalence of smoking cessation (PR = 1.10, CI = 1.02, 1.18, p = .012; PR = 1.12, CI = 1.02, 1.22, p = .016, respectively). This suggests that the association between greenspace and current smoking is due to a higher likelihood of smoking cessation, rather than lower rates of ever- smoking. The associations between greenspace, current smoking and smoking cessation were similar in magnitude to those of having high (vs. low) household income and were largely unmoderated by socioeconomic measures. IMPLICATIONS Our findings advocate the need to protect and invest in local greenspaces, to maximise the public health benefits they may afford. Improving access to greenspace may constitute an overlooked public health strategy for reducing smoking prevalence.
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Chouaïd C, Debieuvre D, Durand-Zaleski I, Fernandes J, Scherpereel A, Westeel V, Blein C, Gaudin AF, Ozan N, Leblanc S, Vainchtock A, Chauvin P, Cotté FE, Souquet PJ. Survival inequalities in patients with lung cancer in France: A nationwide cohort study (the TERRITOIRE Study). PLoS One 2017; 12:e0182798. [PMID: 28841679 PMCID: PMC5571949 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0182798] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/11/2016] [Accepted: 07/25/2017] [Indexed: 12/31/2022] Open
Abstract
The French healthcare system is a universal healthcare system with no financial barrier to access to health services and cancer drugs. The objective of the study is to investigate associations between, on the one hand, incidence and survival of patients diagnosed with lung cancer in France and, on the other, the socioeconomic deprivation and population density of their municipality of residence. A national, longitudinal analysis using data from the French National Hospital database crossed with the population density of the municipality and a social deprivation index based on census data aggregated at the municipality level. For lung cancer diagnosed at the metastatic stage, one-year and two-year survival was not associated with the population density of the municipality of residence. In contrast, mortality was higher for people living in very deprived, deprived and privileged areas compared to very privileged areas (hazard ratios at two years: 1.19 [1.13–1.25], 1.14 [1.08–1.20] and 1.10 [1.04–1.16] respectively). Similar associations are also observed in patients diagnosed with non-metastatic disease (hazard ratios at two years: 1.21 [1.13–1.30], 1.15 [1.08–1.23] and 1.10 [1.03–1.18] for people living in very deprived, deprived and privileged areas compared to very privileged areas). Despite a universal healthcare coverage, survival inequalities in patients with lung cancer can be observed in France with respect to certain socioeconomic indicators.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christos Chouaïd
- Department of Chest Medicine, Créteil University Hospital, Créteil, France
| | - Didier Debieuvre
- Department of Chest Medicine, Mulhouse University Hospital, Mulhouse, France
| | - Isabelle Durand-Zaleski
- URCEco Île-de-France, Hôtel-Dieu Hospital, Paris, France
- Department of Public Health, Henri-Mondor Hospital, Créteil, France
| | | | - Arnaud Scherpereel
- Pulmonary and Thoracic Oncology Department, Lille University Hospital, Lille, France
| | - Virginie Westeel
- Department of Chest Medicine, Jean Minjoz University Hospital, Besançon, France
| | | | - Anne-Françoise Gaudin
- Health Economics and Outcomes Research, Laboratoire Bristol-Myers Squibb, Rueil-Malmaison, France
| | - Nicolas Ozan
- Health Economics and Outcomes Research, Laboratoire Bristol-Myers Squibb, Rueil-Malmaison, France
| | | | | | - Pierre Chauvin
- Sorbonne Universités, UPMC Université Paris 06, INSERM, Institut Pierre Louis d’Epidémiologie et de Santé Publique (IPLESP UMRS 1136), Department of Social Epidemiology, Paris, France
| | - François-Emery Cotté
- Health Economics and Outcomes Research, Laboratoire Bristol-Myers Squibb, Rueil-Malmaison, France
- * E-mail:
| | - Pierre-Jean Souquet
- Department of Chest Medicine, Hospices Civils de Lyon, Centre Hospitalier Lyon Sud, Pierre-Bénite, France
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Lerch M, Oris M, Wanner P, Festy P. Périurbanisation et transformation du gradient de la mortalité urbaine en Suisse. POPULATION 2017. [DOI: 10.3917/popu.1701.0095] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/14/2022]
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Goodman M, LaKind JS, Fagliano JA, Lash TL, Wiemels JL, Winn DM, Patel C, Van Eenwyk J, Kohler BA, Schisterman EF, Albert P, Mattison DR. Cancer cluster investigations: review of the past and proposals for the future. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH AND PUBLIC HEALTH 2014; 11:1479-99. [PMID: 24477211 PMCID: PMC3945549 DOI: 10.3390/ijerph110201479] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/27/2013] [Revised: 01/13/2014] [Accepted: 01/20/2014] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Abstract
Residential clusters of non-communicable diseases are a source of enduring public concern, and at times, controversy. Many clusters reported to public health agencies by concerned citizens are accompanied by expectations that investigations will uncover a cause of disease. While goals, methods and conclusions of cluster studies are debated in the scientific literature and popular press, investigations of reported residential clusters rarely provide definitive answers about disease etiology. Further, it is inherently difficult to study a cluster for diseases with complex etiology and long latency (e.g., most cancers). Regardless, cluster investigations remain an important function of local, state and federal public health agencies. Challenges limiting the ability of cluster investigations to uncover causes for disease include the need to consider long latency, low statistical power of most analyses, uncertain definitions of cluster boundaries and population of interest, and in- and out-migration. A multi-disciplinary Workshop was held to discuss innovative and/or under-explored approaches to investigate cancer clusters. Several potentially fruitful paths forward are described, including modern methods of reconstructing residential history, improved approaches to analyzing spatial data, improved utilization of electronic data sources, advances using biomarkers of carcinogenesis, novel concepts for grouping cases, investigations of infectious etiology of cancer, and "omics" approaches.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael Goodman
- Department of Epidemiology, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, 1518 Clifton Road, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA.
| | - Judy S LaKind
- LaKind Associates, LLC, 106 Oakdale Avenue, Catonsville, MD 21228, USA.
| | - Jerald A Fagliano
- Division of Epidemiology, Environmental and Occupational Health, New Jersey Department of Health, P.O. Box 369, Trenton, NJ 08625, USA.
| | - Timothy L Lash
- Department of Epidemiology, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, 1518 Clifton Road, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA.
| | - Joseph L Wiemels
- Division of Cancer Epidemiology, Department of Epidemiology & Biostatistics, School of Medicine, University of California, Helen Diller Family Cancer Research Building, HD 274 1450 3rd Street, San Francisco, MC 0520, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA.
| | - Deborah M Winn
- Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, 9609 Medical Center Drive, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA.
| | - Chirag Patel
- School of Medicine, Stanford University, 1265 Welch Road, Stanford, CA 94305, USA.
| | - Juliet Van Eenwyk
- Washington State Department of Health, P.O. Box 47812, Olympia, WA 98504, USA.
| | - Betsy A Kohler
- Department of Epidemiology, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, 1518 Clifton Road, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA.
| | - Enrique F Schisterman
- Department of Epidemiology, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, 1518 Clifton Road, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA.
| | - Paul Albert
- Department of Epidemiology, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, 1518 Clifton Road, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA.
| | - Donald R Mattison
- Department of Epidemiology, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, 1518 Clifton Road, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA.
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Berrigan D, Tatalovich Z, Pickle LW, Ewing R, Ballard-Barbash R. Urban sprawl, obesity, and cancer mortality in the United States: cross-sectional analysis and methodological challenges. Int J Health Geogr 2014; 13:3. [PMID: 24393615 PMCID: PMC3898779 DOI: 10.1186/1476-072x-13-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/17/2013] [Accepted: 12/25/2013] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Urban sprawl has the potential to influence cancer mortality via direct and indirect effects on obesity, access to health services, physical activity, transportation choices and other correlates of sprawl and urbanization. METHODS This paper presents a cross-sectional analysis of associations between urban sprawl and cancer mortality in urban and suburban counties of the United States. This ecological analysis was designed to examine whether urban sprawl is associated with total and obesity-related cancer mortality and to what extent these associations differed in different regions of the US. A major focus of our analyses was to adequately account for spatial heterogeneity in mortality. Therefore, we fit a series of regression models, stratified by gender, successively testing for the presence of spatial heterogeneity. Our resulting models included county level variables related to race, smoking, obesity, access to health services, insurance status, socioeconomic position, and broad geographic region as well as a measure of urban sprawl and several interactions. Our most complex models also included random effects to account for any county-level spatial autocorrelation that remained unexplained by these variables. RESULTS Total cancer mortality rates were higher in less sprawling areas and contrary to our initial hypothesis; this was also true of obesity related cancers in six of seven U.S. regions (census divisions) where there were statistically significant associations between the sprawl index and mortality. We also found significant interactions (p < 0.05) between region and urban sprawl for total and obesity related cancer mortality in both sexes. Thus, the association between urban sprawl and cancer mortality differs in different regions of the US. CONCLUSIONS Despite higher levels of obesity in more sprawling counties in the US, mortality from obesity related cancer was not greater in such counties. Identification of disparities in cancer mortality within and between geographic regions is an ongoing public health challenge and an opportunity for further analytical work identifying potential causes of these disparities. Future analyses of urban sprawl and health outcomes should consider exploring regional and international variation in associations between sprawl and health.
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Affiliation(s)
- David Berrigan
- Applied Research Program, Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA
| | - Zaria Tatalovich
- Surveillance Research Program, Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA
| | | | - Reid Ewing
- The University of Utah, College of Architecture and Planning, Salt Lake City, UT 84112, USA
| | - Rachel Ballard-Barbash
- Applied Research Program, Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA
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Lung Cancer Incidence and Survival in England: An Analysis by Socioeconomic Deprivation and Urbanization. J Thorac Oncol 2011; 6:2005-10. [DOI: 10.1097/jto.0b013e31822b02db] [Citation(s) in RCA: 41] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
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McLafferty S, Wang F, Luo L, Butler J. Rural - urban inequalities in late-stage breast cancer: spatial and social dimensions of risk and access. ENVIRONMENT AND PLANNING. B, PLANNING & DESIGN 2011; 38:726-740. [PMID: 23335830 PMCID: PMC3547633 DOI: 10.1068/b36145] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
Abstract
Rural - urban inequalities in health and access to health care have long been of concern in health-policy formulation. Understanding these inequalities is critically important in efforts to plan a more effective geographical distribution of public health resources and programs. Socially and ethnically diverse populations are likely to exhibit different rural - urban gradients in health and well-being because of their varying experiences of place environments, yet little is known about the interplay between social and spatial inequalities. Using data from the Illinois State Cancer Registry, we investigate rural - urban inequalities in late-stage breast cancer diagnosis both for the overall population and for African-Americans, and the impacts of socioeconomic deprivation and spatial access to health care. Changes over time are analyzed from 1988 - 92 to 1998 - 2002, periods of heightened breast cancer awareness and increased access to screening. In both time periods, the risk of late-stage diagnosis is highest among patients living in the most urbanized areas, an indication of urban disadvantage. Multilevel modeling results indicate that rural - urban inequalities in risk are associated with differences in the demographic characteristics of area populations and differences in the social and spatial characteristics of the places in which they live. For African-American breast cancer patients, the rural - urban gradient is reversed, with higher risks among patients living outside the city of Chicago, suggesting a distinct set of health-related risks and place experiences that inhibit early breast cancer detection. Findings emphasize the need for combining spatial and social targeting in locating cancer prevention and treatment programs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sara McLafferty
- University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 601 East John Street, Champaign, IL 61820-5711, USA
| | - Fahui Wang
- Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA 70803, USA
| | - Lan Luo
- University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 601 East John Street, Champaign, IL 61820-5711, USA
| | - Jared Butler
- University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 601 East John Street, Champaign, IL 61820-5711, USA
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Exeter DJ, Boyle PJ, Norman P. Deprivation (im)mobility and cause-specific premature mortality in Scotland. Soc Sci Med 2011; 72:389-97. [DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2010.10.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 40] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/07/2010] [Revised: 09/30/2010] [Accepted: 10/10/2010] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
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12
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Smith KB, Humphreys JS, Wilson MGA. Addressing the health disadvantage of rural populations: How does epidemiological evidence inform rural health policies and research? Aust J Rural Health 2008; 16:56-66. [DOI: 10.1111/j.1440-1584.2008.00953.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 330] [Impact Index Per Article: 20.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022] Open
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Pearce J, Barnett R, Jones I. Have urban/rural inequalities in suicide in New Zealand grown during the period 1980-2001? Soc Sci Med 2007; 65:1807-19. [PMID: 17618025 DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2007.05.044] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/28/2006] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
Abstract
Previous studies have noted that in many countries there has been a disproportionate increase in suicide in rural areas, contributing to greater urban/rural inequalities in health. This paper evaluates whether this trend was also apparent in New Zealand during the 1980s and 1990s, a period of rapid social and economic change. Using suicide incidence data for the period 1980-2001, we investigate whether urban/rural status had an effect upon rates of suicide independently of socioeconomic deprivation. While both male and female suicide rates were significantly higher in urban than rural areas in 1980-1982, by the end of the 1990s, urban/rural differences in suicide rates were not significant. The narrowing of urban/rural differences was, to some extent, a result of the growth in suicide rates in more isolated rural communities and small rural service centres. Recent geographical variations in suicide in New Zealand are therefore to a large extent similar to trends observed elsewhere, but are less marked. Potential explanations are offered for the fluctuating urban/rural inequalities in suicide including compositional arguments, rural restructuring and economic decline, social isolation and health service utilisation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jamie Pearce
- GeoHealth Laboratory, Department of Geography, Christchurch, New Zealand.
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Munro AJ, Bentley AHM, Ackland C, Boyle PJ. Smoking compromises cause-specific survival in patients with operable colorectal cancer. Clin Oncol (R Coll Radiol) 2006; 18:436-40. [PMID: 16909965 DOI: 10.1016/j.clon.2006.04.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
Abstract
AIMS To assess whether active smoking compromises survival in patients with colorectal cancer. MATERIALS AND METHODS We studied a regionally based cohort of 284 consecutive patients referred to the Tayside Cancer Centre for consideration of adjuvant treatment after curative surgery for colorectal cancer. RESULTS Cause-specific survival was significantly worse (P = 0.0015) in patients who were actively smoking at the time of their first post-operative visit. The absolute difference in 5-year cause-specific survival (active smokers vs the rest) was 21%. In adjusted multi-variate analysis of patients after pathologically complete (R0) resection, the hazard ratio was 2.55 (95% confidence interval 1.40-4.64) in active smokers compared with non-smokers. T stage, number of positive nodes and co-morbidity score were also of independent prognostic influence. CONCLUSIONS Persistent smoking was, in this small series, an important and independent predictor of cancer-related death after surgery for cancer of the large bowel. Because smoking and deprivation are related, some of the adverse effects of deprivation upon survival in this group of patients may be explained by smoking behaviour.
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Affiliation(s)
- A J Munro
- Department of Surgery and Molecular Oncology, Ninewells Hospital and Medical School, Dundee, UK.
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Martinez E, Kaplan CP, Guil V, Gregorich SE, Mejia R, J Pérez-Stable E. Smoking Behavior and Demographic Risk Factors in Argentina: A Population-Based Survey. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2006; 2:187-197. [PMID: 18037987 DOI: 10.1016/j.precon.2007.07.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Demographic and socioeconomic factors associated with smoking behavior were evaluated in a nationwide household survey in Argentina to describe the status of the tobacco epidemic. METHODS: Face-to-face interviews with adults, age 20 and older, assessed smoking status, frequency, and age of initiation. Multivariate logistic regression was used to compare social and demographic characteristics. RESULTS: Of the 43,863 participants, 38% of men and 24% of women were current smokers, and 20% of current smokers smoked occasionally. For older men and women, smoking was less prevalent and their probability of quitting higher. Men with more than high school education were less likely to be current smokers. Rates for women did not differ by education. CONCLUSIONS: The lower smoking rates among men with more education suggest that Argentina has begun to transition to the next stage of the tobacco epidemic. Tobacco control policy must direct efforts to change smoking behavior.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eugenio Martinez
- Division of General Internal Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of California San Francisco
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Pearce J, Barnett R, Kingham S. Slip! Slap! Slop! Cutaneous malignant melanoma incidence and social status in New Zealand, 1995-2000. Health Place 2006; 12:239-52. [PMID: 16546691 DOI: 10.1016/j.healthplace.2004.11.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 11/20/2004] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
Abstract
Numerous studies have noted a strong social gradient in many types of ill health. In particular, people in more deprived areas tend to be less healthy than those in more affluent communities, even once the demographic and socio-economic differences of the people in those areas have been taken into account. The social gradient is evident for many types of health outcomes, including diseases such as cancer. However, this positive relationship is not evident for rates of melanoma incidence and mortality, with rates of the disease tending to decrease with measures of disadvantage. In this study, we assess the relationship between the incidence of melanoma and deprivation in New Zealand, a country with particularly high rates of the disease. In the light of greater public awareness of the risk factors associated with melanoma, through public awareness campaigns such as 'Slip! Slap! Slop' and 'No Suntan is Safe', we analyse small-area data on standardised rates of melanoma for the period 1995-2000. We found that melanoma rates increase with social status, even once other confounding factors are controlled for, but that the relationship is very small. Furthermore, the relationship between melanoma incidence and deprivation is context-dependent. Possible explanations for the relationship between melanoma and deprivation are discussed, including more frequent exposure to intermittent sunshine among less disadvantaged groups and the underreporting of melanoma incidence in the New Zealand cancer registry among individuals in lower social groups.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jamie Pearce
- Department of Geography, University of Canterbury, Private Bag 4800, Christchurch 8020, New Zealand.
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Pearce J, Boyle P. Examining the relationship between lung cancer and radon in small areas across Scotland. Health Place 2005; 11:275-82. [PMID: 15774333 DOI: 10.1016/j.healthplace.2004.06.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 06/30/2004] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
Abstract
Numerous studies have suggested that long-term exposure to radon gas may be an important cause of lung cancer, yet the precise effects are still not fully understood, especially in residential settings. This paper considers whether there is a relationship between the distribution of naturally occurring radon gas and lung cancer incidence in Scotland, for the period 1988-1991. We use regression analysis to test whether exposure to radon was a significant cause of lung cancer in Scotland, once smoking and other possible confounding factors were controlled for. The results demonstrate that for the population aged over 54, there was no significant relationship between radon exposure and lung cancer incidence. However, for those aged less than 55, lung cancer rates were significantly higher in places expected to have the highest levels of radon. These results suggest that more research is needed into the relationship between exposure to naturally occurring radon gas and lung cancer in Scotland, particularly among younger age groups.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jamie Pearce
- Department of Geography, University of Canterbury, Private Bag 4800, Christchurch 8020, New Zealand.
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Smyth F, Thomas R. ‘Burning Issues’: an introduction to selected papers from the 10th International Symposium in Medical Geography, Manchester 2003. Soc Sci Med 2005. [DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2004.11.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
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