Research article

Comparison of two methods based on cross-sectional data for correcting corpus uterine cancer incidence and probabilities

Ray M Merrill^1,2 , Joseph L Lyon² and Charles Wiggins³

¹Department of Health Science, College of Health and Human Performance, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah, 84602, USA

²Department of Family and Preventive Medicine, University of Utah College of Medicine, 30 North 1900 East, Salt Lake City, Utah, 84108, USA

³Utah Cancer Registry, 546 Chipeta Way, Suite 2100, Salt Lake City, Utah, 84108, USA

author email corresponding author email

BMC Cancer 2001, 1:13doi:10.1186/1471-2407-1-13

Published:	6 September 2001

Abstract

Background

Two methods are presented for obtaining hysterectomy prevalence corrected estimates of invasive cancer incidence rates and probabilities of the corpus uterine.

Methods

The first method involves cross-sectional hysterectomy data from the Utah Hospital Discharge Data Base and mortality data applied to life-table methods. The second involves hysterectomy prevalence estimates obtained directly from the Utah Behavior Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) survey.

Results

Hysterectomy prevalence estimates based on the first method are lower than those obtained from the second method through age 74, but higher in the remaining ages. Correction for hysterectomy prevalence is greatest among women ages 75–79. In this age group, the uncorrected rate is 125 (per 100,000) and the corrected rate based on the life-table method is 223 using 1995–97 data, 243 using 1992–94 data, and 228 from the survey method. The uncorrected lifetime probability of developing corpus uterine cancer is 2.6%; the corrected probability from the life-table method using 1995–97 data is 4.2%, using 1992–94 data is 4.5%; and based on prevalence data from the survey method is 4.6%.

Conclusions

Both methods provide reasonable hysterectomy prevalence estimates for correcting corpus uterine cancer rates and probabilities. Because of declining trends in hysterectomy in recent decades, corrected estimates from the life-table method are less pronounced than those based on the survey method. These methods may be useful for obtaining corrected uterine cancer rates and probabilities in areas of the world that do not have sufficient years of hysterectomy data to directly compute prevalence.