Abstract

RIZO-RIOS, Pedro et al. Leukemia mortality on people under 20 years old: Mexico 1988-2002. Bol. Med. Hosp. Infant. Mex. [online]. 2005, vol.62, n.1, pp.9-18. ISSN 1665-1146.

Introduction. Leukemias are the most frequent form of cancer in childhood and adolescence. This study describes the mortality rate for individuals under 20 years of age with a primary diagnosis of leukemia in Mexico over a 15 year period, from 1988-2002. Material and methods. Specific mortality rates were calculated according to age, gender and state of origin based on data provided by a National Epidemiological Mortality Reporting System (SEED). The median annual mortality rate and age adjusted mortality rate were estimated for each state in Mexico. The direct method was used for standardization and standard error with 95% confidence intervals were also calculated. The national mortality rate was used as a reference to estimate the standardized mortality rate. State annual change and trends were calculated from 1988 to 2002 by Poisson regression. Results. The leukemia mortality rate during the study period was 51.1%; the male/female ratio was 1.3 and the predominant age group ranged from 10 to 14 years of age. The median annual mortality rate of 27.7 per 10⁶ inhabitants. Conclusions. Leukemia mortality in children and adolescents under 20 years of age represents a major public health problem in Mexico, early diagnosis and specific treatment must be considered high priority.

Keywords : Cancer mortality; in children and adolescents; standardized mortality rate; Poisson regression; leukemias; population under 20; malignant neoplasms.

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