Last update:
04-Feb-2015

OBJECTIVE The World Health Organization (WHO) urges its member countries to present data on the epidemiology of the causes of death. There have been no reports on deaths from neoplasms of the respiratory system in the various regions of Greece. This is a study of the epidemiology of deaths from respiratory neoplasms in 20 years in one prefecture.

METHOD The death certificates of the prefecture Pieria in Macedonia in Northern Greece over 20 years (1991–2010) were studied. Demographic data (gender, age) of those dying from neoplasms of the respiratory system were recorded. The data of the first decade (1991–2000) were compared with those of the second (2001–2010).

RESULTS (a) A total of 1,715 death certificates with the first cause respiratory neoplasms were found, 1,496 (87.2%) of which were men and 219 (12.8%) women. (b) Women showed, overall, a greater age at death (in years) than men (70.04±12.69 vs 68.48±10.55, p<0.05). (c) In the first decade the women had greater age at death than the men (70.74±11.79 vs 68.48±10.45, p<0.05), but in the second decade, the age at death was almost the same in the two sexes (69.64±13.48 vs 69.17±10.58, p=NS, for men and women). (d) A greater age at death was recorded in the second than in the first decade (69.23±10.97 vs 68.01±10.7, p<0.05). The males showed a separate increase in the age at death in the second decade (69.17±10.58 vs 67.61±10.45, p<0.05). In contrast, there was no significant difference in survival of women (69.64±13.48 vs 70.74±11.79, p=NS) between the two decades.

CONCLUSIONS A larger proportion of the male population in Pieria died from respiratory neoplasms in 1991–2010, but the females had longer survival. In the decade 2001–2010 increased survival was observed in the male population, reaching that of the females.

Key words: Neoplasms, Respiratory tract, Survival.