title: Mortality from stomach cancer in Serbia, excluding the province of Kosovo, in the 1991-2009 period.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Stomach cancer is the second most common cause of death from all malignant tumors in the world (third in men, fifth in women), with a strong decreasing trend in most developed countries. The aim of this descriptive epidemiological study was to analyze mortality of stomach cancer in Serbia, excluding the Province of Kosovo, in the 1991-2009 period.
  
  
  METHODS
  In data analysis, we used mortality rates which were standardized directly using those of the world population as a standard. In order to analyze the mortality trend from stomach cancer, linear trend and regression analysis were used. Confidence intervals (CIs) for the average age-adjusted and age-specific mortality rates were assessed with 95% level of probability. Mortality data were derived from the data file of the Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia.
  
  
  RESULTS
  During the 1991-2009 period, a significant downward trend in mortality of stomach cancer was recorded in Serbia (y=9.78 - 0.13x, p=0.000; average annual percent change was - 6.3 (95%CI, -7.8 to - 4.8). During the same period, a significant decrease in mortality trend was found both in male (y=14.13 - 0.20x; p=0.000; % change was -7.7 (95%CI, -10.9 to -4.5) and female populations (y=6.27 - 0.08x; p=0.000; % change was - 4.4 (95%CI, -5.3 to -3.6).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Decreasing trends in mortality from stomach cancer in Serbia are similar to those in most developed countries.
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, Faculty of Medical Sciences, University of Kragujevac, Kragujevac, Serbia. drmilenailic@yahoo.com
authors.forename: Milena
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ilic
authors.forename: Tanja
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Prodovic
authors.forename: Zoran
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Milosavljevic
authors.forename: Biljana
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Ljujic
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D016021:Epidemiologic Studies; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009026:Mortality / Q000639:trends*; D011379:Prognosis; D055771:Serbia / Q000453:epidemiology; D013274:Stomach Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000401:mortality*; D015996:Survival Rate; D013997:Time Factors; D055815:Young Adult