title: Identification of racial disparities in breast cancer mortality: does scale matter?
abstract: BACKGROUND
  This paper investigates the impact of geographic scale (census tract, zip code, and county) on the detection of disparities in breast cancer mortality among three ethnic groups in Texas (period 1995-2005). Racial disparities were quantified using both relative (RR) and absolute (RD) statistics that account for the population size and correct for unreliable rates typically observed for minority groups and smaller geographic units. Results were then correlated with socio-economic status measured by the percentage of habitants living below the poverty level.
  
  
  RESULTS
  African-American and Hispanic women generally experience higher mortality than White non-Hispanics, and these differences are especially significant in the southeast metropolitan areas and southwest border of Texas. The proportion and location of significant racial disparities however changed depending on the type of statistic (RR versus RD) and the geographic level. The largest proportion of significant results was observed for the RD statistic and census tract data. Geographic regions with significant racial disparities for African-Americans and Hispanics frequently had a poverty rate above 10.00%.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study investigates both relative and absolute racial disparities in breast cancer mortality between White non-Hispanic and African-American/Hispanic women at the census tract, zip code and county levels. Analysis at the census tract level generally led to a larger proportion of geographical units experiencing significantly higher mortality rates for minority groups, although results varied depending on the use of the relative versus absolute statistics. Additional research is needed before general conclusions can be formulated regarding the choice of optimal geographic regions for the detection of racial disparities.
authors.affiliation: Texas Center for Geographic Information Science, Department of Geography, Texas State University-San Marcos, San Marcos, Texas 78666, USA. jt1277@txstate.edu
authors.forename: Nancy
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Tian
authors.forename: Pierre
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Goovaerts
authors.forename: F Benjamin
authors.initials: FB
authors.lastname: Zhan
authors.forename: Jeff G
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Wilson
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000401:mortality*; D002423:Cause of Death; D019352:Censuses; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D016208:Databases, Factual; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D054624:Health Status Disparities; D006630:Hispanic or Latino / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D016015:Logistic Models; D008875:Middle Aged; D016017:Odds Ratio; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D016019:Survival Analysis; D013781:Texas; D044465:White People / Q000706:statistics & numerical data