Abstract

PEREIRA-SCALABRINO, Ana; ALMONTE, Maribel  and  DOS-SANTOS-SILVA, Isabel. Country-level correlates of cervical cancer mortality in Latin America and the Caribbean. Salud pública Méx [online]. 2013, vol.55, n.1, pp.5-15. ISSN 0036-3634.

OBJECTIVE: To identify country-level correlates of geographical variations in cervical cancer (CC) mortality in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). MATERIALS AND METHODS: CC mortality rates for LAC countries (n=26) were examined in relation to country-specific socio-economic indicators (n=58) and Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) prevalence using linear regression models. RESULTS: High mortality at ages <5 years, low per capita total expenditure on health, and low proportion of the population with access to sanitation were identified as the best independent predictors of CC mortality (R² =77%). In the subset of countries (n=10) with HPV prevalence estimates, these socio-economic indicators together with high-risk HPV prevalence explained almost all the between-country variability in CC mortality (R² =98%). CONCLUSION: The findings suggest that continuing socioeconomic improvements in LAC countries will be associated with further reductions in CC mortality even in the absence of organised population-based screening and vaccination programmes.

Keywords : uterine cervical neoplasms; papillomaviridae; mass screening; Latin America.

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