Abstract
Background. A geographic analysis of the causes of death is an
important tool for assessing the effectiveness of Public Health
initiatives. The aim of this study is to analyse the causes of death
between 2000 and 2004, to discover any excess mortality from can-
cer in Province of Taranto, an area at high environmental risk.
Methods. Mortality data from cancer were selected from the
Puglia Regional Nominative Causes of Death Registry. Crude
and standardized rates and Standardized Mortality Ratios (SMR)
were calculated for the five Provinces of the Puglia Region, their
capital cities and in four concentric rings around the industrial
area located in Province of Taranto.
Results. Even if the highest death rate for all tumours resulted in
the Province of Lecce (24.9 x 10,000), in the cities of Lecce and
Bari (29 x 10,000), the distribution of the SMRs in Province of
Taranto showed an excess of mortality (+10%) in the ring next
to industrial area. For lung cancer the highest rate was reported
in city of Taranto (6 x10,000) and the highest risk (+24%) in the
ring next to industrial area. Moreover, in this area 9 (70%) of
the 13 considered malignant tumours types presented an excess
of mortality.
Conclusion. The results uphold the data reported in the pub-
lished literature. It is fundamental to intensify research into
other risk factors (exposure at work and aberrant lifestyles).
Moreover, there is an increasing need for a Regional Cancer
Register.
