142nd APHA Annual Meeting and Exposition

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Interactive mapping of leukemia in Missouri

142nd APHA Annual Meeting and Exposition (November 15 - November 19, 2014): http://www.apha.org/events-and-meetings/annual
Monday, November 17, 2014 : 10:50 AM - 11:10 AM

Iris Zachary, PhD, MSIT, CTR , Department of Health Management & Informatics, University of Missouri School of Medicine, Columbia, MO
Jeannette Jackson-Thompson, MSPH, PhD , Missouri Cancer Registry and Research Center/Dept. of Health Management & Informatics, University of Missouri School of Medicine, Columbia, MO
Chester Schmaltz, PhD , Missouri Cancer Registry and Research Center/Dept. of Health Management & Informatics, University of Missouri--Columbia, School of Medicine, Columbia, MO
Eduardo Simoes, MD, MSc, DLSHTM, MPH , Health Management and Informatics, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO
BACKGROUND: Leukemia is the ninth leading cancer type for new cases in men and the sixth leading cancer cause of death for both men and women in the United States estimated for 2013. The leukemia incidence rate in Missouri 12.2 is only slightly lower than the national rate of 12.4. It is thought that due to changes in the treatment and diagnosis settings for leukemia, reports of these cases to Missouri’s central cancer registry are being delayed or missed entirely. Therefore we expect the true Missouri leukemia rate to be higher than the rate calculated with the registry’s data.

PURPOSE: Explore the completeness of reporting for leukemia in Missouri through interactive mapping.

METHODS: We used leukemia incidence and mortality rates to compare Missouri to national rates and neighboring states’ rates. We used mapping software to aid in exploring the data geographically.

RESULTS: The rate for Missouri is only slightly lower than the national rate for leukemia. Neighboring states Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Nebraska, and Oklahoma all have higher rates for leukemia than both the US and Missouri (Tennessee and Arkansas are lower than both the US and Missouri).

DISCUSSION: Even though the incidence rate in Missouri is only slightly lower than the national rate we suspect that leukemia is underreported in Missouri. Looking at cancer spatially is important to understand data for certain geographic regions, identify uncharacteristic observations and discover patterns for certain counties.

Learning Areas:

Communication and informatics
Conduct evaluation related to programs, research, and other areas of practice
Epidemiology
Public health or related organizational policy, standards, or other guidelines
Public health or related research

Learning Objectives:
Discuss how interactive mapping and disease surveillance can lead to better outcomes. Explain why leukemia is thought to be under-reported in many states. Assess whether leukemia is being under-reported.

Keyword(s): Cancer, Geographic Information Systems (GIS)

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am an Assistant Research Professor in the Department of Health Management and Informatics, University of Missouri School of Medicine. I am a Certified Tumor Registrar and served as Assistant Database Manager for the Missouri Cancer Registry and Research Center for over ten years, working with the collection, quality and security of cancer incidence data and the secure maintenance of the database.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

Back to: 3151.0: Applying Health informatics and HIT systems to Facilitate Surveillance and Disparity Reduction Efforts