Evidence map›Paper›PMID 28103940›Full record

ArticlePopulation health metrics2017

Methodological choices affect cancer incidence rates: a cohort study.

Hannah L Brooke, Mats Talbäck, Maria Feychting, Rickard Ljung

Open access · goldAbstract readComparative Study
In one paragraph

Article in Population health metrics, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
0.1field-weighted citation impact, top 51% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 8 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Hannah L BrookeUnit of Epidemiology, Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, 171 77, Stockholm, PO Box 210, Sweden. hannah.brooke@ki.se.
Mats TalbäckUnit of Epidemiology, Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, 171 77, Stockholm, PO Box 210, Sweden.
Maria FeychtingUnit of Epidemiology, Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, 171 77, Stockholm, PO Box 210, Sweden.
Rickard LjungUnit of Epidemiology, Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, 171 77, Stockholm, PO Box 210, Sweden.
Karolinska Institutet · SE

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundIncidence rates are fundamental to epidemiology, but their magnitude and interpretation depend on methodological choices. We aimed to examine the extent to which the definition of the study population affects cancer incidence rates.

methodsAll primary cancer diagnoses in Sweden between 1958 and 2010 were identified from the national Cancer Register. Age-standardized and age-specific incidence rates of 29 cancer subtypes between 2000 and 2010 were calculated using four definitions of the study population: persons resident in Sweden 1) based on general population statistics; 2) with no previous subtype-specific cancer diagnosis; 3) with no previous cancer diagnosis except non-melanoma skin cancer; and 4) with no previous cancer diagnosis of any type. We calculated absolute and relative differences between methods.

resultsAge-standardized incidence rates calculated using general population statistics ranged from 6% lower (prostate cancer, incidence rate difference: -13.5/100,000 person-years) to 8% higher (breast cancer in women, incidence rate difference: 10.5/100,000 person-years) than incidence rates based on individuals with no previous subtype-specific cancer diagnosis. Age-standardized incidence rates in persons with no previous cancer of any type were up to 10% lower (bladder cancer in women) than rates in those with no previous subtype-specific cancer diagnosis; however, absolute differences were <5/100,000 person-years for all cancer subtypes.

conclusionsFor some cancer subtypes incidence rates vary depending on the definition of the study population. For these subtypes, standardized incidence ratios calculated using general population statistics could be misleading. Moreover, etiological arguments should be used to inform methodological choices during study design.

Indexed as

Patient SelectionAdolescentAdultAgedAged, 80 and overChildChild, PreschoolEpidemiologic MethodsFemaleHumansIncidenceInfantInfant, NewbornMaleMiddle AgedNeoplasmsCancerIncidence rateMethodsStandardized incidence ratioStudy population

Identifiers

PMID28103940
PMCPMC5248500
OpenAlexW2574175532

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.