title: [Incidence of esophageal cancer on the plains and in the mountainous regions of the Kazakh SSR].
abstract: The relative frequency of esophageal cancer (1973-1977) was evaluated versus altitude-associated variations in atmospheric pressure for plain (Kzyl-Orda Region) and mountainous (Alma-Ata Region) areas of the Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic. Most of populated areas of Kzyl-Orda Region are situated at altitudes of 60-180 m, while those of Alma-Ata Region--at 600-900 m above sea level. According to the results of the analysis of standardized indexes of morbidity, esophageal cancer incidence in Alma-Ata Region was 3.7 times lower than in Kzyl-Orda Region (p less than 0.001). This index for the Kazakh population in Alma-Ata Region was half, for Russians--2.1 times and other ethnic groups--2.2 times less than that for similar groups of population in Kzyl-Orda Region. There was an inverse correlation between relative incidence of esophageal cancer and altitude for either region. To illustrate, if the incidence rate for the plains in Alma-Ata Region is assumed to be 100%, this index drops to 66.7% (p less than 0.05) for foothill areas and to 42.9% at medium heights (p less than 0.02). Such decrease in morbidity was in correlation with that in atmospheric pressure and varied directly with the monthly and yearly changes in atmospheric pressure as altitude increased.
mesh_terms: D000531:Altitude; D002980:Climate; D004938:Esophageal Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005843:Geography; D006801:Humans; D007623:Kazakhstan
vernacular_title: Rasprostranenie raka pishchevoda v nekotorykh ravninnykh i gornykh zonakh Kazakhskoĭ SSR.