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Lung Cancer Deaths per 100,000 Population, by County, New Mexico, 2013-2017

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Why Is This Important?

Among New Mexicans, lung cancer is the second most commonly diagnosed cancer in both men and women, and is the leading cause of cancer death overall. Approximately 90% of lung cancer cases in men and 80% in women are attributable to cigarette smoking (New Mexico Cancer Plan 2012-2017). Tobacco smoke contains at least 70 chemicals known to cause cancer in people or animals. People who smoke cigarettes are 15 to 30 times more likely to die from lung cancer than people who do not smoke.

Lung Cancer Deaths per 100,000 Population, by County, New Mexico, 2013-2017

Definition

Lung Cancer Deaths per 100,000 population in New Mexico Lung cancer mortality is defined as malignant neoplasm of bronchus and lung (ICD10: C34).

Data Notes

  • Rates have been age-adjusted using the direct method and the 2000 U.S. standard population.
  • *This count or rate is statistically unstable (RSE >0.30), and may fluctuate widely across time periods due to random variation (chance). **This count or rate is extremely unstable (RSE >0.50). This value should not be used to infer population risk. You should combine years or otherwise increase your population size.

Data Sources

How the Measure is Calculated

  • Numerator:

    Number of lung cancer deaths

  • Denominator:

    New Mexico population

Data Issues

Death certificate information is submitted electronically by funeral directors, who obtain demographic information from an informant, a close family member of the decedent. The NMDOH Bureau of Vital Records and Health Statistics (BVRHS) does annual trainings for funeral directors and local registrars and the death certificate information goes through extensive scrutiny for completeness and consistency. The cause of death is certified by the decedent's physician or the physician that attended the death. Accidental and suspicious deaths are certified by the Office of the Medical Investigator. When death certificates are received the cause of death literals are keyed into software locally by the BVRHS, then shipped to the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) where they are machine coded into ICD-10 cause-of-death codes. NCHS returns the ICD-10 codes to BVRHS where the death records are updated.

Health Topic Pages Related to: Cancer Deaths - Lung Cancer

Indicator Data Last Updated On 12/13/2018, Published on 02/17/2020
Cancer Prevention and Control Section, Population and Community Health Bureau, Public Health Division, New Mexico Department of Health, 5301 Central Ave. NE, Suite 800, Albuquerque, NM 87108, Telephone: (505) 841-5840. For data inquiries, contact the Cancer Section Epidemiologist, Libby Bruggeman, PhD, MA (email: Libby.Bruggeman@state.nm.us) or the Medical Officer/Epidemiologist, Susan Baum, MD, MPH (email: susan.baum@state.nm.us).