AGE-STANDARDIZED INCIDENCE RATE OF BREAST CANCER AND HUMAN DEVELOPMENT INDEX (HDI) IN IRAN, 2003-2009: AN ECOLOGICAL STUDY

Objective: Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women worldwide. This study was conducted to investigate the trend of Age-Standardized Incidence Rate (ASIR) of breast cancer and its relationship with Human Development Index (HDI) in Iran during 2003-2009. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was carried out using available HDI and ASIR data of breast cancer in Iran during 2003-2009. The HDI score for each Province, between 2003 and 2009, was obtained from another study. Also, ASIR of breast cancer for each Province during 2003 to 2009 was collected from National Cancer Registry System. Bivariate method was employed to evaluate the correlation between ASIR and HDI. The reported p-value is two-sided. p -value < 0.05 was considered to be statistically significant. Results: During 2003-2009, ASIR of breast cancer in Iran increased from 15.96 to 28.25 per 100,000 women. The lowest and highest ASIRs were observed in 2003 (15.96 per 100,000 women) and 2008 (33.21 per 100,000 women), respectively. During the time period between 2003 and 2009, ASIR of breast cancer was higher in provinces with very high HDI value than provinces with very low HDI value. There was a positive correlation (0.61) between the HDI and ASIR of breast cancer. This relationship was statistically significant (p < 0.001). Conclusions: The present study indicates that there was a positive and significant correlation between HDI and ASIR of breast cancer in Iran, during 2003-2009. Also, it was found that provinces with higher HDI (mainly central provinces) had a higher ASIR of breast cancer. Implementing preventive measures, such as public educational programs, is suggested to decrease the incidence of breast cancer.