Trends in Melanoma Mortality in Serbia: A 22-Year Population-Based Study

Zorana  Babic; Nemanja  Rancic; Sanja  Ilic; Snezana  Corovic; Vesna  Milicic; Gordana  Djordjevic; Ognjen  Djordjevic; Sladjana  Ilic; Svetlana  Radevic

doi:10.18502/ijph.v53i4.15559

Zorana Babic Faculty of Medical Sciences University of Kragujevac, Kragujevac, Serbia
Nemanja Rancic Center for Clinical Pharmacology, Medical Faculty of the Military Medical Academy, University of Defense, Belgrade, Serbia
Sanja Ilic Faculty of Medical Sciences University of Kragujevac, Kragujevac, Serbia
Snezana Corovic Faculty of Medical Sciences University of Kragujevac, Kragujevac, Serbia
Vesna Milicic Department of Dermatovenerology, Faculty of Medical Sciences, University of Kragujevac, Kragujevac, Serbia
Gordana Djordjevic Department of Epidemiology, Faculty of Medical Sciences, University of Kragujevac, Kragujevac, Serbia
Ognjen Djordjevic Department of Epidemiology, Faculty of Medical Sciences, University of Kragujevac, Kragujevac, Serbia
Sladjana Ilic Department of Dermatovenerology, General Hospital “Medical System Belgrade”, Belgrade, Serbia
Svetlana Radevic Department of Social Medicine, Faculty of Medical Sciences, University of Kragujevac, Kragujevac, Serbia

DOI: https://doi.org/10.18502/ijph.v53i4.15559

Keywords: Malignant melanoma; Mortality; Age-standardized rates; Population-based study

Abstract

Background: We aimed to investigating the sex-specific and age-specific melanoma mortality trends observed on the territory of Serbia between 2000 and 2021.

Methods: This population-based study used data from the Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia database during the period 2000–2021. The calculation of the gender and age-standardized rates (ASR) was performed. We used a regression analysis complete with linear trend model.

Results: The mean ASR was 1.77 per 100,000 people, meaning that male mortality rates (2.24 per 100,000) was higher than female mortality rates (1.34 per 100,000). During the observation period, a rising trend in mortality from melanoma skin cancer was reported. Observed by gender, the change of melanoma mortality trend was significant in men (P=0.021), but not in women (P=0.747). The annual growth rate of ASRs values was 1.43%. A increase in the melanoma mortality rate was observed since 2000 by 2.44% annually in males and by 2.79% annually in females. Mortality rates were increasing in both sexes as they aged, and the greatest number of deaths was recorded in the group of those aged 80 yr or above (16.25 per 100,000 for men; 10.45 per 100,000 for women).

Conclusion: Our study findings underline the importance of launching more effective public health awareness campaigns to educate people about the dangers of melanoma and its symptoms’ detection along with establishing a diagnosis at an early stage of the disease, especially among male patients and those at an advanced age.