Breast Cancer Mortality: a Trend Analysis in Ceará, Northeast and Brazil from 2005 to 2015

Abstract

Introduction: Information on breast cancer mortality can be useful for planning public policies. Objective: Analyze the trend of mortality from breast cancer in women in the state of Ceará. Method: Exploratory descriptive study whose variables were: year and place of death, sex, basic cause of death, and age in an age range. The statistical analysis of the data was performed in the Gretl program by means of linear regression where the breast cancer mortality rates were considered dependent variables and the years of the study period, the independent variables. The regression coefficients, their 95% confidence intervals and the respective p-values of the tests of statistical significance were presented. Results: 141,168 deaths from breast cancer were reported across Brazil. The state of Ceará represents 3.73% of this total and had a growth of 92.7% in the number of deaths from breast cancer. There was an increase in specific mortality rates from the age of 40 onwards, increasing until the last age group surveyed. Conclusion: The analysis carried out in this study showed a progressive trend in the number of deaths in Ceará, in the Northeast and in Brazil. It is essential to develop strategies that prioritize actions to shorten the delay in the management of breast cancer cases in health services so that early detection reduces the number of deaths.