Interpretation of Death Rates Data
Death Rate Report for Massachusetts by County
All Cancer Sites, 2016-2020
All Races (includes Hispanic), Both Sexes, Ages 65+
Sorted by Rate
Explanation of Column HeadersObjective - The objective of 122.7 is from the Healthy People 2020 project done by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Death Rate (95% Confidence Interval) - The death rate is based upon 100,000 people and is for 5 year(s). Rates are age-adjusted by 5-year age groups to the 2000 U.S. standard million population (the Healthy People 2020 goals are based on rates adjusted using different methods but the differences should be minimal).
Recent Trends - This is an interpretation of the AAPC:
- Rising when 95% confidence interval of average annual percent change is above 0.
- Stable when 95% confidence interval of average annual percent change includes 0.
- Falling when 95% confidence interval of average annual percent change is below 0.
AAPC (95% Confidence Interval) - The Average Annual Percent Change is the change in rate over time. These AAPCs are based upon APCs that were calculated by Joinpoint Regression Program
Other Notes
- Larger confidence intervals indicate less stability of the data. This is often due to low counts that are not quite low enough to be suppressed.
- Data is currently being suppressed if there are fewer than 16 counts for the time period.
Line by Line Interpretation of the Report
Massachusetts
- Met Healthy People Objective of 122.7? : No
- Rate : The death rate is 859.0 with a 95% confidence interval from 851.2 to 866.9 and 9,529 average annual deaths over 2016-2020.
- CI*Rank⋔ : N/A
- Recent Trend : The trend is falling
because the trend is -1.9 with a 95% confidence interval from -2.0 to -1.8.
United States
- Met Healthy People Objective of 122.7? : No
- Rate : The death rate is 855.4 with a 95% confidence interval from 854.2 to 856.5 and 431,628 average annual deaths over 2016-2020.
- CI*Rank⋔ : N/A
- Recent Trend : The trend is falling
because the trend is -2.0 with a 95% confidence interval from -2.2 to -1.7.
Plymouth County
- Met Healthy People Objective of 122.7? : No
- Rate : The death rate is 922.6 with a 95% confidence interval from 894.3 to 951.5 and 825 average annual deaths over 2016-2020.
- CI*Rank⋔ : 1 (1, 5)
- Recent Trend : The trend is falling
because the trend is -1.9 with a 95% confidence interval from -2.2 to -1.6.
Hampden County
- Met Healthy People Objective of 122.7? : No
- Rate : The death rate is 908.3 with a 95% confidence interval from 878.1 to 939.3 and 703 average annual deaths over 2016-2020.
- CI*Rank⋔ : 2 (1, 7)
- Recent Trend : The trend is falling
because the trend is -1.0 with a 95% confidence interval from -1.2 to -0.8.
Bristol County
- Met Healthy People Objective of 122.7? : No
- Rate : The death rate is 899.0 with a 95% confidence interval from 871.6 to 927.0 and 839 average annual deaths over 2016-2020.
- CI*Rank⋔ : 3 (1, 7)
- Recent Trend : The trend is falling
because the trend is -1.3 with a 95% confidence interval from -1.4 to -1.1.
Worcester County
- Met Healthy People Objective of 122.7? : No
- Rate : The death rate is 897.4 with a 95% confidence interval from 873.8 to 921.5 and 1,129 average annual deaths over 2016-2020.
- CI*Rank⋔ : 4 (1, 7)
- Recent Trend : The trend is falling
because the trend is -2.0 with a 95% confidence interval from -2.6 to -1.4.
Franklin County
- Met Healthy People Objective of 122.7? : No
- Rate : The death rate is 897.4 with a 95% confidence interval from 827.2 to 971.8 and 129 average annual deaths over 2016-2020.
- CI*Rank⋔ : 5 (1, 12)
- Recent Trend : The trend is falling
because the trend is -0.9 with a 95% confidence interval from -1.3 to -0.6.
Dukes County
- Met Healthy People Objective of 122.7? : No
- Rate : The death rate is 863.6 with a 95% confidence interval from 732.9 to 1,010.8 and 33 average annual deaths over 2016-2020.
- CI*Rank⋔ : 6 (1, 14)
- Recent Trend : The trend is falling
because the trend is -2.1 with a 95% confidence interval from -2.8 to -1.3.
Barnstable County
- Met Healthy People Objective of 122.7? : No
- Rate : The death rate is 861.2 with a 95% confidence interval from 829.0 to 894.2 and 548 average annual deaths over 2016-2020.
- CI*Rank⋔ : 7 (3, 12)
- Recent Trend : The trend is falling
because the trend is -1.2 with a 95% confidence interval from -1.5 to -1.0.
Norfolk County
- Met Healthy People Objective of 122.7? : No
- Rate : The death rate is 861.0 with a 95% confidence interval from 837.2 to 885.4 and 1,019 average annual deaths over 2016-2020.
- CI*Rank⋔ : 8 (4, 10)
- Recent Trend : The trend is falling
because the trend is -1.8 with a 95% confidence interval from -2.0 to -1.5.
Hampshire County
- Met Healthy People Objective of 122.7? : No
- Rate : The death rate is 834.4 with a 95% confidence interval from 784.9 to 886.2 and 220 average annual deaths over 2016-2020.
- CI*Rank⋔ : 9 (4, 14)
- Recent Trend : The trend is falling
because the trend is -1.3 with a 95% confidence interval from -1.7 to -1.0.
Berkshire County
- Met Healthy People Objective of 122.7? : No
- Rate : The death rate is 830.7 with a 95% confidence interval from 783.9 to 879.6 and 242 average annual deaths over 2016-2020.
- CI*Rank⋔ : 10 (5, 14)
- Recent Trend : The trend is falling
because the trend is -2.0 with a 95% confidence interval from -2.7 to -1.4.
Middlesex County
- Met Healthy People Objective of 122.7? : No
- Rate : The death rate is 825.8 with a 95% confidence interval from 809.4 to 842.4 and 1,990 average annual deaths over 2016-2020.
- CI*Rank⋔ : 11 (8, 14)
- Recent Trend : The trend is falling
because the trend is -2.0 with a 95% confidence interval from -2.2 to -1.9.
Essex County
- Met Healthy People Objective of 122.7? : No
- Rate : The death rate is 819.3 with a 95% confidence interval from 797.3 to 841.8 and 1,076 average annual deaths over 2016-2020.
- CI*Rank⋔ : 12 (8, 14)
- Recent Trend : The trend is falling
because the trend is -2.3 with a 95% confidence interval from -2.5 to -2.1.
Suffolk County
- Met Healthy People Objective of 122.7? : No
- Rate : The death rate is 812.6 with a 95% confidence interval from 786.7 to 839.1 and 764 average annual deaths over 2016-2020.
- CI*Rank⋔ : 13 (8, 14)
- Recent Trend : The trend is falling
because the trend is -3.1 with a 95% confidence interval from -3.7 to -2.5.
Nantucket County
- Met Healthy People Objective of 122.7? : No
- Rate : The death rate is 738.5 with a 95% confidence interval from 555.3 to 961.9 and 11 average annual deaths over 2016-2020.
- CI*Rank⋔ : 14 (1, 14)
- Recent Trend : The trend is falling
because the trend is -3.1 with a 95% confidence interval from -4.3 to -1.9.
Notes:
Created by statecancerprofiles.cancer.gov on 10/04/2023 1:59 pm.
State Cancer Registries may provide more current or more local data.
Rising when 95% confidence interval of average annual percent change is above 0.
Stable when 95% confidence interval of average annual percent change includes 0.
Falling when 95% confidence interval of average annual percent change is below 0.
† Death data provided by the National Vital Statistics System public use data file. Death rates calculated by the National Cancer Institute using SEER*Stat. Death rates are age-adjusted to the 2000 US standard population (19 age groups: <1, 1-4, 5-9, ... , 80-84, 85+). The Healthy People 2030 goals are based on rates adjusted using different methods but the differences should be minimal. Population counts for denominators are based on Census populations as modified by NCI.
The US Population Data File is used with mortality data.
‡ The Average Annual Percent Change (AAPC) is based on the APCs calculated by Joinpoint. Due to data availability issues, the time period used in the calculation of the joinpoint regression model may differ for selected counties.
⋔ Results presented with the CI*Rank statistics help show the usefulness of ranks. For example, ranks for relatively rare diseases or less populated areas may be essentially meaningless because of their large variability, but ranks for more common diseases in densely populated regions can be very useful. More information about methodology can be found on the CI*Rank website.
Healthy People 2030 Objectives provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Please note that the data comes from different sources. Due to different years of data availability, most of the trends are AAPCs based on APCs but some are APCs calculated in SEER*Stat. Please refer to the source for each graph for additional information.
Interpret Rankings provides insight into interpreting cancer incidence statistics. When the population size for a denominator is small, the rates may be unstable. A rate is unstable when a small change in the numerator (e.g., only one or two additional cases) has a dramatic effect on the calculated rate.
Data for United States does not include Puerto Rico.
When displaying county information, the CI*Rank for the state is not shown because it's not comparable. To see the state CI*Rank please view the statistics at the US By State level.