Oral cancer in Taiwan: mortality trends and material deprivation

Objectives: Oral cancer can form in any part of the mouth or throat. Worldwide the problem is much greater over 400,000 new cases with high mortality rate being found each year. Therefore oral cancer should be paid much attention. Area quid chewing and smoking are popular habits in Taiwan. Both have been speculated to be associated with oral cancer. The purpose of this study was to determine the mortality form of oral cancer and to investigate its relation to material deprivation in Taiwan between 1998 and 2007. Methods: The demography data was from Department of Health, Executive Yuan. It provided details of deaths and population estimates. Mortality rate was compared each year. Results: Among the 10 years, oral cancer occupied the 4-5th ranks according the Taiwan caner death reasons. The mortality rate increased 87.18 %. The average death age was 55.08 years old for male and 68.65 years old for female, respectively. The female mortality rate was less than the male, and the etiologic fraction value is 92.45%. For analyses by deprivation, small area statistics were obtained from the 1998 and 2002 censuses. In a selected female sample distinct, age- specific mortality rates rose with age and there was little change with time. But in male, the mortality rates rose 32.08%. These differences in oral cancer incidence found between 1998 and 2003 probably reflect differences in lifestyles. The unemployment rate increased 92.19% and the annual changes in CPI decreased 116.57%. Conclusions: The analysis by deprivation has shown a clear relation to material deprivation. Where socio-economic deprivation per se or a different risk factor behavior associated with deprivation (smoking, alcohol consumption, HPV-16 virus) the cause of these differences is not known. However, it is very likely that different risk factor behavior plays a major part.