Social inequalities in the incidence, mortality, and survival of neoplasms in women from a municipality in Southeastern Brazil

Abstract

This study aims to analyze inequalities in the incidence, mortality, and survival of the main types of cancer in women according to the Social Vulnerability Index (SVI). The study was conducted in Campinas, São Paulo State, Brazil, from 2010 to 2014, and used data from the Population-based Cancer Registry and the Mortality Information System. Incidence and mortality rates standardized by age and 5-year survival estimates were calculated according to the social vulnerability strata (SVS), based on the São Paulo Social Vulnerability Index. Three SVS were delimited, with SVS1 being the lowest level of vulnerability and SVS3 being the highest. Rate ratios and the concentration index were calculated. The significance level was 5%. Women in SVS1 had a higher risk of breast cancer (0.46; 95%CI: 0.41; 0.51), colorectal cancer (0.56; 95%CI: 0.47; 0.68), and thyroid cancer (0.32; 95%CI: 0.26; 0.40), whereas women from SVS3 had a higher risk of cervical cancer (2.32; 95%CI: 1.63; 3.29). Women from SVS1 had higher mortality rates for breast (0.69; 95%CI: 0.53; 0.88) and colorectal cancer (0.69; 95%CI: 0.59; 0.80) and women from SVS3 had higher rates for cervical (2.35; 95%CI: 1.57; 3.52) and stomach cancer (1.43; 95%CI: 1.06; 1.91). Women of highest social vulnerability had lower survival rates for all types of cancer. The observed inequalities differed according to the location of the cancer and the analyzed indicator. Inequalities between incidence, mortality, and survival tend to revert and the latter is always unfavorable to the segment of highest vulnerability, indicating the existence of inequality in access to early diagnosis and timely treatment.