Why does the report present data on childhood cancers diagnosed only through age 14?
National health agencies such as the National Cancer Institute define pediatric cancer as those occurring from birth through age 14. This standard definition enables comparisons between New Jersey data and national published data. In addition, the types of cancers observed in young people begin to shift at about age 15. For example, there are more testicular cancers and lymphomas — which affect the white blood cells of the immune system — in the 15 – 19 age group than in younger children. Why doesn’t the report give cancer rates for municipalities? Although childhood cancers are very serious diseases, they are also very rare. The small numbers of cases in each county make it statistically difficult to see year-to-year differences that are significant, and not due to chance alone. In other words, a difference of one or two cases more or less a year can produce a rise or fall in rates that is not statistically meaningful. This problem is even more pronounced when analyzing municipality
Related Questions
- For the NCATE program report, do we need to disaggregate data according to candidate competence with different age groups?
- My coalition collects data for never have or never used for Average Age of Onset. How do I report never have?
- Why does the report present data on childhood cancers diagnosed only through age 14?
