Letter Health Consultation: Cancer Incidence, 1992-2006: Residents of Pembroke and Allenstown. Merrimack County, New Hampshire. EPA Facility ID: NHD000791509

摘要

This study employed the Standardized Incidence Ratio (SIR) technique to analyze cancer incidence among Suncook area residents. The SIR is used to analyze disease incidence in small areas and is the first step in NHs disease cluster investigation protocol. The SIR is the ratio of the actual (observed) number of cases in the study population to the number that would be expected to occur if that population had the same age-gender composition as the State of NH reference population as a whole. The purpose of an SIR is to identify unusually high (or low) disease rates in an area. Once identified, an assessment is made as to whether elevated rates might be amenable to public health intervention. It is important to emphasize that the term expected as used in this study is based only on the characteristics of age and gender. It does not take into account other determinants of elevated disease and death rates such as health-related behaviors (e.g., tobacco and alcohol use, diet), environmental or occupational exposures, or access to health care (e.g., insurance status, other financial and personal barriers).