Racial, ethnic and gender trends in lung cancer mortality rates in the United States-Mexico border and non-border areas.

Background: Geographic patterns of lung cancer mortality rate differ in the region bordering Mexico in contrast to the US. This study compares lung cancer mortality between border and non-border counties by race/ethnicity and gender.
Methods: This study utilized population-level death certificate data from US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Public Internet Wide-Ranging Online Data for Epidemiologic Research dataset between 1999 and 2020. Established algorithms were implemented to examine lung cancer deaths among US residents. We analyzed the age-adjusted data by year, race/ethnicity, gender, and geographic region. Joinpoint regression was used to determine mortality trends across time.
Results: Lung cancer mortality rates were lower in border counties compared to non-border counties across time (p < 0.05). Hispanic lung cancer mortality rates were not different in border counties compared to non-border counties during the same period (p > 0.05). Lung cancer mortality among non-Hispanic White living in border counties was lower than non-Hispanic White residing in non-border counties (p < 0.01), and non-Hispanic Black living in border counties had lower lung cancer mortality than non-Hispanic Black in non-border counties in all but three years (p < 0.05). Both female and male mortality rates were lower in border counties compared to non-border counties (p < 0.05).
Conclusion: Differences in lung cancer mortality between border counties and non-border counties reflect lower mortality in Hispanics overall and a decline for non-Hispanic White and non-Hispanic Black living in border counties experiencing lower lung cancer mortality rates than non-border counties. Further studies are needed to identify specific causes for lower mortality rates in border counties.
Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest concerning this article's research, authorship, and publication.
(Copyright © 2023. Published by Elsevier Inc.)