Abstract
BackgroundCancer is a leading burden of disease in Australia and worldwide, with incidence rates varying with age, sex and geographic location. As part of the Ageing, Chronic Disease and Injury study, we aimed to map the incidence rates of primary cancer diagnoses across western Victoria and investigate the association of age, accessibility/remoteness index of Australia (ARIA) and area-level socioeconomic status (SES) with cancer incidence.MethodsData on cancer incidence in the study region were extracted from the Victorian Cancer Registry (VCR) for men and women aged 40+ years during 2010–2013, inclusive. The age-adjusted incidence rates (per 10,000 population/year), as well as specific incidence for breast, prostate, lung, bowel and melanoma cancers, were calculated for the entire region and for the 21 Local Government Areas (LGA) that make up the whole region. The association of aggregated age, ARIA and SES with cancer incidence rates across LGAs was determined using Poisson regression.ResultsOverall, 15,120 cancer cases were identified; 8218 (54%) men and 6902 women. For men, the age-standardised rate of cancer incidence for the whole region was 182.1 per 10,000 population/year (95% CI 177.7–186.5) and for women, 162.2 (95% CI: 157.9–166.5). The incidence of cancer (overall) increased with increasing age for men and women. Geographical variations in cancer incidence were also observed across the LGAs, with differences identified between men and women. Residents of socioeconomically disadvantaged and less accessible areas had higher cancer incidence (p < 0.001).ConclusionCancer incidence rates varied by age, sex, across LGAs and with ARIA. These findings not only provide an evidence base for identifying gaps and assessing the need for services and resource allocation across this region, but also informs policy and assists health service planning and implementation of preventative intervention strategies to reduce the incidence of cancer across western Victoria. This study also provides a model for further research across other geographical locations with policy and clinical practice implications, both nationally and internationally.
Highlights
Cancer is a leading burden of disease in Australia and worldwide, with incidence rates varying with age, sex and geographic location
Results from our study further demonstrated that Local Government Areas (LGA) with greater socio-economic disadvantage, and LGAs which scored as less accessible and more remote, were associated with higher cancer incidence rates
It is likely that the observable disparity between urban/ metro areas and more rural and remote areas is due to many contributing factors. Whilst these results demonstrate an association between age, sex, accessibility and socioeconomic status (SES) on cancer incidence, any inference on causality would need to account for confounding variables associated with a
Summary
Cancer is a leading burden of disease in Australia and worldwide, with incidence rates varying with age, sex and geographic location. Cancer is a leading burden of disease in Australia and worldwide. With Australia’s ageing population rapidly increasing, the burden of chronic disease, such as cancer, and associated health service delivery and utilisation is expected to rise [3]. According to the Cancer Council Victoria’s ‘Cancer in Victoria: Statistics and Trends 2016 [4, 5] report, projections of cancer incidence and mortality indicate an increased burden of cancer in Victoria by 2027–2031; with the annual number of all new cancer diagnoses anticipated to increase to over 43,000 (38%) and deaths to over 13,000 (19%). When projections are analysed by sex, annual cancer diagnoses for Victorian men and women are forecast to rise 25 and 52%, respectively
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