Inequality in the Incidence of Cervical Cancer: Costa Rica 1980–2010

Introduction: Cervical cancer is the third most incident and the fourth most lethal cancer among Costa Rican women. The purpose of this study was to quantify incidence inequality along three decades and to explore its determinants. Materials and Methods: This is a population-based study. Main data sources were the National Tumor Registry (1980–2010), CRELES (Costa Rican Longevity and Healthy Aging Study) longitudinal survey (2013), and published indices of economic condition (2007) and access to healthcare (2000). Cartography was made with QGIS software. Inequality was quantified using the Theil-T index. With the purpose of detecting differences by tumor's behavior, inequality was estimated for “in situ” and invasive incidence. In Situ/Invasive Ratios were estimated as an additional marker of inequality. Poisson and spatial regression analyses were conducted with Stata and ArcMap software, respectively, to assess the association between incidence and social determinants such as economic condition, access to healthcare and sub-utilization of Papanicolaou screening. Results: As measured by Theil-T index, incidence inequality has reached high (83 to 87%) levels during the last three decades. For invasive cervical cancer, inequality has been rising especially in women aged 50–59; increasing from 58% in the 1980's to 66% in 2000's. Poisson regression models showed that sub-utilization of Papanicolaou smear was associated with a significant decrease in the probability of early diagnosis. Costa Rican guidelines establish a Pap smear every 2 years; having a Pap smear every 3 years or longer was associated with a 36% decrease in the probability of early “in situ” diagnosis (IRR = 0.64, p = 0.003) in the last decade. Spatial regression models allowed for the detection of specific areas where incidence of invasive cervical cancer was higher than expected. Conclusion: Results from this study provide evidence of inequality in the incidence of cervical cancer, which has been high over three decades, and may be explained by sub-utilization of Papanicolaou smear screening in certain regions. The reasons why women do not adequately use screening must be addressed in future research. Interventions should be developed to stimulate the utilization of screening especially among women aged 50 to 59 where inequality has been rising.