[Epidemiology of cervical cancer at the Mexican Institute of Social Security]

In order to study the secular trend and age and geographic distribution of cervical cancer at the Mexican Institute for Social Security, an ecologic study was carried on. During the last 10 years cervical cancer has been the second most common neoplasia, being the leading one in women. For those between 30 and 44 years old it is the third cause of death, and one of the first ten in all age groups until 64. Mortality has shown a stable trend for the last 15 years, in a range from 3.3 to 4.5 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants. Mortality rates increase with age. There is a fine-fold increase in the risk of death for women 40 to 49 years old (CI 95% 4.2-6.4%) and a tenfold increase for those over 80, (CI 95% 7.3-12.6) when taking those under 40 years old as a reference group. In 1989, the cervical cancer incidence was 9.7 cases for each 100,000 person-years. Morbidity and mortality are unequally distributed along the country. There is a need for the development of research in order to know better the occurrence of this disease as well as how known risk factors affect it.