Trends in cancer mortality rates, Bergen County, New Jersey, 1962-75

Publication of the "Atlas of Cancer Mortality for U.S. Counties, 1950-1969" caused a great deal of concern in counties shown in the Atlas to have had high cancer mortality rates in relation to the United States as a whole. An analysis was made of temporal trends of cancer mortality in Bergen County, a "high-rate county" in northeastern New Jersey, by calculating age-adjusted cancer mortality rates by sex and site for Bergen County residents for the period 1962-75. Mortality rates and time rates of change in mortality rates were compared to those in the United States as a whole. Male and female rates for respiratory cancer and male rates for all sites combined increased significantly more quickly in the United States than in Bergen County during the study period. The authors discuss these trends and recommended that recent time-specific mortality rates be furnished to county health commissions on a regular basis.