Source
Department of Community Medicine and Health Care, University of Connecticut School of Medicine, Farmington, Connecticut 06030-6205, USA.
Abstract
OBJECTIVES:
To evaluate the geographic variation of prostate cancer incidence in Connecticut during a 15-year period: before the introduction of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) testing (1984 to 1988), during its introduction (1989 to 1993), and after its widespread adoption (1994 to 1998).
METHODS:
A spatial scan statistic was used to detect and test the significance of the geographic rate variation among 29,944 incident cases.
RESULTS:
During 1984 to 1988, eight locations had incidence rates that differed significantly from the statewide level; for 1989 to 1993, only two locations were identified. By 1994 to 1998, a significant rate variation was noted for 10 locations around Connecticut.
CONCLUSIONS:
The observed geographic variation of incidence rates may reflect differing opportunities to uncover latent cases at given locales.