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Abstract Background Cervical cancer is the most common cancer experienced by women worldwide; however, screening techniques are very effective for reducing the risk of death. The national cervical cancer screening program was implemented in Taiwan in 1995. The objective of this study was to examine and provide evidence of the cervical cancer mortality trends for the periods before and after the screening program was implemented. Methods Data from 1981 to 2010 of the causes of death registered were obtained from the Department of Health, Taiwan. Age-standardized mortality rates, age-specific rates, and age-period-cohort models that employed the sequential method were used to assess temporal changes that occurred between 1981 and 2010, with 1995 used as the separating year. Results The results showed that for both time periods of 1981 to 1995 and 1996 to 2010, age and period had significant effects, whereas the birth cohort effects were insignificant. For patients between 80 and 84 years of age, the mortality rate for 1981 to 1995 and 1996 to 2010 was 48.34 and 68.08. The cervical cancer mortality rate for 1996 to 2010 was 1.0 for patients between 75 and 79 years of age and 1.4 for patients between 80 and 84 years of age compared to that for 1981 to 1995. Regarding the period effect, the mortality trend decreased 2-fold from 1996 to 2010. Conclusions The results of this study indicate a decline in cervical cancer mortality trends after the screening program involving Papanicolaou tests was implemented in 1995. However, the positive effects of the screening program were not observed in elderly women because of treatment delays during the initial implementation of the screening program.

Background: Projections on liver diseases mortality can provide a basis for evaluating the World Health Organization's "25 by 25" goal and can help healthcare systems design appropriate control strategies. This study evaluated whether the 25 by 25 goal can be achieved in Taiwan and discussed possible future control strategies. Methods: Age‐period‐cohort models are used to estimate the mortality trends of liver diseases from 1981 to 2016 and project these trends to 2035. Results: For chronic liver disease and cirrhosis among men, the age‐adjusted mortality rate decreased from 1981 to 1991, increased until 1999, and subsequently decreased again until 2016. For women, the age‐adjusted mortality rate exhibited an increasing but up‐and‐down trend from 1981 to 1998 and a decreasing trend to 2016. For liver cancer among men, the age‐adjusted mortality rate exhibited an increasing trend from 1981 to 2002 and a decreasing trend to 2016. For women, the age‐adjusted mortality rate exhibited an increasing trend from 1981 to 2003 and a decreasing trend to 2016. The age‐adjusted mortality rates of chronic liver disease, cirrhosis and liver cancer for both sexes are projected to decrease by more than 30% from 2016 to 2025 and by more than 55% from 2016 to 2035. Conclusion: These results indicated that the 25 by 25 goal can be achieved for liver diseases mortality in Taiwan. In addition to viral hepatitis, the following risk factors may become the major causes of liver diseases in Taiwan in the future: alcohol and tobacco use, diabetes and obesity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the second most common cause of cancer death in developed countries among men (after lung cancer) and the third most common among women. This study thus examines the long-term trends of CRC mortality in Taiwan. Methods: CRC cases were collective between patients aged 30 years or older and younger than 85 years from the Taiwan death registries during 1971-2010. Standard descriptive techniques such as age-standardized mortality rates (ASMR), aural percent change, and age-period-cohort analyses were used. Results: The increase of percentage change by each age group in men was higher than in women. The ASMR of CRC increased 2-fold for men and almost 1.5-fold for women during the periods 1971-1975 and 2006-2010. For age-period-cohort analysis, the estimated mortality rate increased steadily with age in both sexes, and plateaued at 175.29 per 100,000 people for men and 128.14 per 100,000 for women in the 80- to 84-year-old group. Period effects were weak in both sexes. Cohort effects were strong. Between 30 and 59 years of age, the sex ratio showed that the female CRC mortality rate was higher than that of their male counterparts. Conversely, the mortality risk of CRC in men was higher than that in women when they were between 60 and 84 years old. Conclusions: The current findings showed a consistent increase in mortality from CRC over the years. Changes in the patient sex ratio indicated an important etiological role of sex hormones, especially in women aged 60 years or younger. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]