Correlations between Mortality-to-Incidence Ratios and Health Care Disparities in Testicular Cancer

• Main Authors: Wen-Jung Chen, Cheng-Yu Huang, Yu-Hui Huang, Shao-Chuan Wang, Tzuo-Yi Hsieh, Sung-Lang Chen, Wen-Wei Sung, Tsung-Hsien Lee
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2019-12-01
• Series: International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
• Subjects: testicular cancer; mortality; incidence; mortality-to-incidence ratio
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/1/130

The mortality-to-incidence ratio (MIR) is associated with the clinical outcomes of different types of cancer as well as the ranking of health care systems. However, the association between MIRs for testicular cancer and health care disparities, including differences in expenditures and health system rankings, has not yet been reported. We used the Spearman&#8217;s rank correlation coefficient (CC) to analyze the correlation between testicular cancer MIRs and both total expenditures on health/gross domestic product (e/GDP) and the World Health Organization&#8217;s (WHO) health system rankings. After screening the data for quality and missing information, 57 countries were chosen for analysis. Generally, developed countries and regions had relatively high rates of incidence/mortality, but with a favorable MIR. Among the continents, Europe had the highest incidence rates, whereas the highest MIRs were in Africa. Globally, favorable testicular cancer MIRs were observed in countries with both a high e/GDP and a good WHO ranking (R² = 0.325, <i>p</i> &lt; 0.001 and CC = &#8722;0.568, <i>p</i> &lt; 0.001; R² = 0.367, <i>p</i> &lt; 0.001 and CC = 0.655, <i>p</i> &lt; 0.001, respectively). In conclusion, the MIR for testicular cancer varies in countries and regions based on both their total health expenditure and their health care system ranking.