To the Editor: We conducted a joinpoint analysis of death certificate data on prostate cancer from the Australian Bureau of Statistics. Between 1979 and 1994, mortality rates increased by 2.1% per year (95% CI, 1.6% to 2.5%). However, between 1994 and 1999, mortality decreased by 4.2% per year (95% CI, – 5.8% to – 2.4%). The total decrease in mortality rates for the five years to 1999 (the most recent year for which data were available) was 22.6% (95% CI, – 32.9% to – 12.7%).
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- Epidemiology Unit, Queensland Health, Brisbane, QLD.
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