The causes of death occured within the Aliaga İzmir municipial boundaries in 2011 and their relation with the sociodemographic variables

INTRODUCTION and OBJECTIVES: Chemical pollutants from industrial sources have been leading cause of illness and death all over the world. Dense industrial pollution has caused cancers more prominent and known. The World Health Organization (WHO) has stated that 80% of all cancers are related, directly or indirectly, to the environmental factors. 25% of all deaths in developing regions and 17% of all deaths in developed ones are due to environmental factors. In this study, it is aimed to determine the causes of death and find out the relation between socio-demographic variables and cancer-deaths occured in Aliaga in 2011. METHODS: In this cross-sectional study, the research population described as individuals who died in 11 districts located within the boundaries of Aliaga (Izmir) in 2011; all population was included in the study. The death records by computer belonging to The Izmir Metropolitan Municipality and The Aliaga Municipality's certificates of death recorded in 2011 were used and interviewed face-to-face with first-degree relatives of the dead people. In case of inadequate information, a detailed verbal autopsy, accredited by the WHO, was applied. In analysis, Chi-square, Fisher's exact test, Mantel-haenszel Chi-square and Logistic regression analyses were used. RESULTS: Within the Aliaga municipal boundaries, 174 deaths were determined for the year 2011. The main causes of death was found to be cardiovascular diseases (36.2%) and cancers (26.4%). Among cancer deaths, respiratory system cancers were in the first rank (43.5%). While the respiratory system cancers ranked first in men (57.1%), gastrointestinal cancers were more widespread in women (27.8%). Proportion of cancer deaths by age groups of 45-and-under, 45-54, 55-64, 65-74, 75-84 and 85+ were 10.3%,10.9%, 17.8%, 16.1%, 25.9% and 19.0%, respectively. A significant relationship between age and cancer deaths was found. The significance was due to the age groups of 55-64 and 75-and-over. Another significant relationship was between inhabitancy and cancer deaths. The difference was due to those who had resided in Aliaga for 15-29 years. Mortality rate in smokers (48.9%) was significantly higher than non-smokers (18.7%). Mortality rate in those whose first degree relatives had cancer was higher and statistically significant. According to the logistic regression analysis, the risk of cancer death was found to be 4.7 times greater in those who had resided in Aliaga for 15-29 years than in those who had resided less than 15 years. In addition, in smokers, the risk of cancer death was 2.8 times higher than in non-smokers. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS: According to the results of the study, cancer was the second leading cause of deaths in the Aliaga municipal boundaries in 2011. Taking into account the deaths related to cancer, lung and respiratory system cancers have been found to be higher than other types of cancers. The results of the study should be supported by further studies. Especially for the future, more scientific studies about the effects of industry and industry-related air, water and soil pollution on human health are needed. Key words: Cancer, Mortality, Industrial region, Environment