Interpretation of Rate/Trend Comparison by Cancer Data
Death Rate/Trend Comparison by Cancer, 2016-2020
Massachusetts Counties versus United States
Childhood (Ages <20, All Sites)
All Races, Both Sexes
Sorted by name
Explanation of Column HeadersState/County - The site and sex combination for this comparison.
Priority Index 1 - The priority index is based upon the direction of the trend and the rate comparison. An index of 1 is the highest priority - that trend is rising and the rate is already higher. An index of 9 is the lowest priority - the trend is falling and the rate is already lower.
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
United States
- Recent Trend(2) : The trend is falling because the trend is -1.1 with a 95% confidence interval from -1.4 to -0.8.
- Rate : The death rate is 2.2 with a 95% confidence interval from 2.1 to 2.2 and 1,793 average annual deaths.
Massachusetts
- Recent Trend(2) : The trend is falling because the trend is -1.6 with a 95% confidence interval from -2.3 to -0.9.
- Rate : The death rate is 1.9 with a 95% confidence interval from 1.6 to 2.2 and 30 average annual deaths.
Worcester County
- Priority Index(1) : The priority index is 6.
- Recent Trend(2) : The trend is stable because the trend is -0.6 with a 95% confidence interval from -1.9 to 0.7.
- County Death Rate Compared to US Rate : This death rate is similar compared to the US rate
- Rate : The death rate is 2.1 with a 95% confidence interval from 1.3 to 3.2 and 4 average annual deaths.
- Rate Ratio(3) County to US : The rate ratio is 0.9
Suffolk County
- Priority Index(1) : The priority index is 6.
- Recent Trend(2) : The trend is stable because the trend is -0.2 with a 95% confidence interval from -2.1 to 1.7.
- County Death Rate Compared to US Rate : This death rate is similar compared to the US rate
- Rate : The death rate is 3.0 with a 95% confidence interval from 1.9 to 4.5 and 5 average annual deaths.
- Rate Ratio(3) County to US : The rate ratio is 1.4
Plymouth County
- Priority Index(1) : The priority index cannot be determined.
- Recent Trend(2) : **
- County Death Rate Compared to US Rate : *
- Rate : *
- Rate Ratio(3) County to US : *
Norfolk County
- Priority Index(1) : The priority index cannot be determined.
- Recent Trend(2) : **
- County Death Rate Compared to US Rate : *
- Rate : *
- Rate Ratio(3) County to US : *
Nantucket County
- Priority Index(1) : The priority index cannot be determined.
- Recent Trend(2) : **
- County Death Rate Compared to US Rate : *
- Rate : *
- Rate Ratio(3) County to US : *
Middlesex County
- Priority Index(1) : The priority index is 6.
- Recent Trend(2) : The trend is stable because the trend is -1.1 with a 95% confidence interval from -2.5 to 0.4.
- County Death Rate Compared to US Rate : This death rate is similar compared to the US rate
- Rate : The death rate is 2.1 with a 95% confidence interval from 1.5 to 2.9 and 8 average annual deaths.
- Rate Ratio(3) County to US : The rate ratio is 1.0
Hampshire County
- Priority Index(1) : The priority index cannot be determined.
- Recent Trend(2) : **
- County Death Rate Compared to US Rate : *
- Rate : *
- Rate Ratio(3) County to US : *
Hampden County
- Priority Index(1) : The priority index cannot be determined.
- Recent Trend(2) : **
- County Death Rate Compared to US Rate : *
- Rate : *
- Rate Ratio(3) County to US : *
Franklin County
- Priority Index(1) : The priority index cannot be determined.
- Recent Trend(2) : **
- County Death Rate Compared to US Rate : *
- Rate : *
- Rate Ratio(3) County to US : *
Essex County
- Priority Index(1) : The priority index cannot be determined.
- Recent Trend(2) : **
- County Death Rate Compared to US Rate : This death rate is similar compared to the US rate
- Rate : The death rate is 1.9 with a 95% confidence interval from 1.1 to 3.0 and 4 average annual deaths.
- Rate Ratio(3) County to US : The rate ratio is 0.9
Dukes County
- Priority Index(1) : The priority index cannot be determined.
- Recent Trend(2) : **
- County Death Rate Compared to US Rate : *
- Rate : *
- Rate Ratio(3) County to US : *
Bristol County
- Priority Index(1) : The priority index cannot be determined.
- Recent Trend(2) : **
- County Death Rate Compared to US Rate : *
- Rate : *
- Rate Ratio(3) County to US : *
Berkshire County
- Priority Index(1) : The priority index cannot be determined.
- Recent Trend(2) : **
- County Death Rate Compared to US Rate : *
- Rate : *
- Rate Ratio(3) County to US : *
Barnstable County
- Priority Index(1) : The priority index cannot be determined.
- Recent Trend(2) : **
- County Death Rate Compared to US Rate : *
- Rate : *
- Rate Ratio(3) County to US : *
Notes:
Created by statecancerprofiles.cancer.gov on 06/30/2024 2:37 am.
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.
Rate Comparison
Above when 95% confident the rate is above and Rate Ratio3 > 1.10
Similar when unable to conclude above or below with confidence.
Below when 95% confident the rate is below and Rate Ratio3 < 0.90
* Data has been suppressed to ensure confidentiality and stability of rate and trend estimates.
** Data are too sparse to provide stable estimates of annual rates needed to calculate trend.
1 Priority indices were created by ordering from rates that are rising and above the comparison rate to rates that are falling and below the comparison rate.
2 Recent trend in death rates is usually an Average Annual Percent Change (AAPC) based on the APCs calculated by Joinpoint Version 4.8.0.0. Due to data availability issues, the time period and/or calculation method used in the calculation of the trends may differ for selected geographic areas.
3 Rate ratio is the county rate divided by the US rate. Previous versions of this table used one-year rates for states and five-year rates for counties. As of June 2018, only five-year rates are used.
Source: 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 2020 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.
Note: 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. Suppression is used to avoid misinterpretation when rates are unstable.
State Cancer Registries may provide more current or more local data. Data presented on the State Cancer Profiles Web Site may differ from statistics reported by the State Cancer Registries (for more information).
Data for the following has been suppressed to ensure confidentiality and stability of rate and trend estimates:
Barnstable County, Berkshire County, Bristol County, Dukes County, Franklin County, Hampden County, Hampshire County, Nantucket County, Norfolk County, Plymouth County
Trend for the following could not be reliably determined due to small number of deaths per year:
Essex County
Interpret Rankings provides insight into interpreting cancer 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.