OBJECTIVE:
to describe stomach cancer mortality trends in individuals over 20 years old in the city of Volta Redonda-RJ, Brazil, from 1981 to 2008.
METHODS:
time series study, using Mortality Information System (SIM) data. Standardized mortality rates were calculated by age group.
RESULTS:
the average standardized stomach cancer mortality rate was higher among males (27 per 100,000 men vs. 15 per 100,000 women); between 1981 and 2008, the mortality trend was decreasing and relevant, varying from 33.4 to 193 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants (p<0.001); in the male group, this rate decreased from 45.6 to 24.8 deaths per 100 thousand men (p=0.019); and in the female group, from 20.7 to 14.4/100 thousand women (p=0.098).
CONCLUSION:
gastric cancer mortality is declining in the general population and men; women presented lower rates, without relevant reduction in the studied period.
Stomach Neoplasm; Mortality; Time Series Studies; Temporal Distribution