Epidemiology of the Incidence and Mortality of Pancreas Cancer and its Relationship with the Human Development Index (HDI) in the World: An Ecological Study in 2018

Abstract

Objective: Pancreatic cancer is one of the leading causes of mortality in developed countries and a lethal malignant neoplasm worldwide. This study aims to evaluate the epidemiology of pancreatic cancer incidence and mortality and its relationship with HDI.

Methods: This is a descriptive cross-sectional study that is based on cancer incidence data and cancer mortality rates derived from the GLOBOCAN in 2018. The incidence and mortality rates of Pancreas as well as Pancreas cancer distribution maps were derived for world countries. The data analysis was conducted using a correlation test, and regression tests were used to evaluate the correlation of the incidence and mortality of Pancreas with HDI. The statistical analysis was carried out by Stata-14, and a significance level of 0.05 was considered.

Results: The highest incidence of pancreatic cancer was reported in Asia with 214499 (46.7%) cases and the lowest incidence was related to Oceania with 4529 cases (0.99%). The results showed a positive and significant correlation between incidence (r = 0.764, P <0.0001) and mortality (r = 0.771, P <0.0001) of pancreatic cancer and the HDI index. The results of ANOVA revealed that the highest mean incidence was related to the very high HDI (P <0.0001) and the highest mortality was connected to the very high human development (P <0.0001). The results exhibited that incidence was positively and significantly correlated with GNI (r = 0.497, P <0.0001), MYS (r = 0.746, P <0.0001), LEB (r = 0.676, <0.0001) and EYS (r = 0.738, P <0.0001). Also, a significant positive correlation was found between mortality and GNI (r = 0.507, P <0.0001), MYS (r = 0.745, P <0.0001), LEB (r = 0.679, <0.0001), and EYS (r = 0.748, P <0.0001).

Conclusion: Given the higher incidence and mortality of pancreatic cancer in countries with HDI, it is necessary to pay a greater attention to risk factors and appropriate planning to reduce these factors and minimize the impact and mortality rate of this disease.

Keywords: Incidence; epidemiology; human development index; mortality; pancreatic cancer; world.