Mortality from cervical cancer in Brazil: an ecological epidemiologic study of a 22-year analysis

Mortality data obtained from the mortality information system (SIM) identified a total of 103,094 women with cervical cancer in Brazil. However, associations between mortality and sociodemographic variables in these patients are not fully understood. Therefore, this study aimed to analyse the sociodemographic factors (geographic region, age, race and marital status) that predict cervical cancer mortality in Brazil between 1996 and 2017. A descriptive, analytic and retrospective study was carried out using secondary data on deaths from cervical cancer recorded in the SIM-DATASUS. Deaths reported between 1996 and 2017 in the health information system and classified by the International Classification of Diseases-10 were included. Sociodemographic factors (geographic regions, age, sex and race) were subjected to inferential analysis for a relation with mortality. Mortality increases during the aging process after the third decade of life. However, single women who die are usually diagnosed with cancer in the early stage of the disease. The mortality rate is higher in Black women and women living in the North, South and Southeast regions of Brazil. Yellow women have a lower mortality in the country. Besides, each region has specific characteristics in relation to race and marital status. White women who died had some form of stable union during life, whereas the other races were more associated with single marital status. Thus, the sociodemographic factors that predict mortality in women with cervical cancer in Brazil were identified and can be used to guide the public health policies.