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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Muhannad S. Hafi, MD, MPH¹, Paul H. Levine, MD¹, Heather A. Young, PhD, MPH, CHES¹, Susan Devesa, PhD, MHS², John O. Davies-Cole, PhD, MPH³, and Grant Tao, MD, PhD, MS⁴. (1) Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, The George Washington University, School of Public Health and Health Services, 2300 I St. NW, Ross Hall Rm# 120, washington, DC 20037, (202) 425-3121, mhafi@gwu.edu, (2) National Institute of Health / National Cancer Institute. Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, Executive Plaza South, Room 8048, 6120 Executive Boulevard, MSC 7242, Bethesda, MD 20892-7335, (3) Bureau of Epidemiology & Health Risk Assessment, District of Columbia Department of Health, 825 North Capitol St. N.E. # 3137, Washington, DC 20002, (4) Division of Occupational & Environmental Medicine, The Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, 2024 E. Monument St, Ste 1-300, Baltimore, MD 21205

Title: Incidence of four major cancers in the District of Columbia by race and socioeconomic status Objective: This study examined incidence rates for prostate, breast, colon, and lung cancers calculated by race and gender based on cases diagnosed among residents of the District of Columbia during 1997-2001, to determine the relationship with an indicator of socioeconomic status. Methods: Census tract cancer incidence data were obtained from the DC Cancer Registry for 1997-2001, and the population estimates were from the 2000 Census. The population was divided into socioeconomic tertiles based on the percentage of individuals below the poverty line in 1999. Age-adjusted cancer incidence rates (R), rate ratios (RR), and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated within each of the socioeconomic groupings using PEPI software. Results: Black females had significantly lower breast cancer rates than white females RR= 0.73 (CI 0.66-0.81), and rates rose with decreasing poverty level among black females. Prostate cancer incidence rate decreased between two consecutive tertiles with increasing poverty level among black males, but without apparent trend. Black males and females had pronounced increases in lung cancer rates with rising poverty levels, from R= 93.3 (CI 79.9-108.2) to R=152.8 (CI 137.8-168.9) among males. Colon cancer rates tended to rise among all four race/gender groups with increasing poverty levels, most pronounced among white males, from R= 30.6 (CI 24.3-38) to R= 64.8 (CI 43.8-92.4) Conclusion: Poverty was associated with lower rates of female breast cancer and higher rates of lung and colon cancers.

Key Words: Cancer, Poverty

Learning Objectives:

• • Identify the four major forms of cancer in the District of Columbia
• • Evaluate the impact of race and socioeconomic status on cancer incidence in the District of Columbia
• • Discuss poverty level as an indicator of socioeconomic status with respect to cancer incidence in the District and develop a plan to further investigate relative factors

Keywords: Cancer, Poverty

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Not Answered