Age

Age refers to a person's age (in whole years) at the time of a specific event.

Age is calculated by truncating the age value to the next smallest integer, e.g. both 45.1 years and 45.9 years are truncated to 45 years.

Age-standardised rate (ASR)

The hypothetical rate, expressed as the number of cases per 100,000 persons, of cancer incidence or mortality in a group of people if their age distribution is the same as that in a standard or reference population.
 
An ASR is used to compare cancer incidence or mortality between populations with different sizes and age structures. The different populations can represent different states or countries, as well as different time periods for the same geographic region.
 
The ASR allows tracking of incidence and mortality trends that are not due to changes or differences in population size or age. Cancer incidence and mortality generally increases over time as a result of population growth and ageing. Similarly, cancer incidence will usually differ between two populations of similar sizes if one population is older than the other.
 
The standard populations used in the calculation of an ASR are listed below.

First Nations peoples

The terminology First Nations peoples refers to the Aboriginal peoples and Torres Strait Islander peoples, their nations, societies, and language groups that have occupied these lands since time immemorial.

Incidence

The number of new cases of invasive cancers among Queensland residents over a given period of time.

Incidence per 100K

Incidence per 100,000 people in the Queensland population.

Incidence ASR Australia per 100K

Incidence rate standardised to the age distribution of Australia in 2001 expressed per 100,000 Queensland population.

See ASR for more information.

Indigenous regions (IREGs)

Indigenous Regions (IREGs) are large geographical areas based on historical boundaries. The larger population of Indigenous Regions enables highly detailed analysis.

Click here for more information about IREGs. 

Kaplan Meier survival

Kaplan Meier is the method use to estimate the probability of surviving beyond a specific time from diagnosis, with failure (or event) defined as death from any cause.

Lifetime risk of diagnosis (or death)

Lifetime risk refers to the odds that someone will be diagnosed (or die from) cancer over the course of their lifetime. Lifetime risk within the Explorer is calculated using an average life expectancy of 85 years.  Lifetime risks presented are average risks for the Queensland population and an individuals own risk may be higher or lower than this depending on particular risk factors.

Local Government Areas (LGAs)

A Local Government Area (LGA) is one of the spatial units defined under the non-ABS structures of the Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS).

Click here to see more about Queensland LGAs. 

Median age

The age that divides a population into two halves: one older than the median, the other younger than the median.

See Age for more information.

Mortality (deaths)

The number of deaths attributed to cancer in a defined population during a specified time period regardless of when the diagnosis of cancer was made.

Mortality per 100K

Mortality per 100,000 people in the Queensland population.

Mortality ASR Australia per 100K

Mortality rate standardised to the age distribution of Australia in 2001, expressed per 100,000 Queensland population.

See Age for more information.

Non First Nations peoples

A person who does not identify as Aboriginal peoples and/or Torres Strait Islander peoples (First Nations peoples).

Overall survival rate (1-year, 2-year, 5-year, 10-year, 15-year, 20-year, 25-year)

The percentage of cancer cases still alive after a specified period of time from diagnosis.

Population

Estimated Resident Populations (ERPs) are used for the calculation of incidence and mortality rates.  Click here for more information regarding Queensland ERPs.

Prevalence

The number of people living with cancer at a given point in time.
 
Cancer prevalence is difficult to estimate at population level. This is because the number of people who undergo treatment for cancer and are subsequently cured (and therefore no longer living with cancer) is usually unknown. In the absence of this information, cancer prevalence is estimated with the assumption that all surviving patients who were diagnosed with cancer over a period of time are still living with cancer at the end of that period.
 
Prevalence 5-years for a given calendar year is calculated by adding all persons diagnosed with cancer over that year and the 4-year period preceding it and subtracting all those who died on or before the end of that year.
 
Prevalence 25-years is calculated similarly for all surviving patients diagnosed over 25 years leading up to and including the given calendar year.
 
Prevalence Lifetime is the total number of surviving patients diagnosed since 1982 when the Queensland Cancer Registry began operating.

Primary Health Networks (PHNs)

Click here for more information about Primary Health Networks (PHN). 

Projection (Incidence/Mortality projection)

The projections of incidence and mortality counts for Queensland have been obtained by applying the most recent 5-year age-specific incidence and mortality rates (by age, sex and SA2) to the corresponding population projections by age, sex and SA2.  Population projections were obtained from the Queensland Government Statistician's Office (https://www.qgso.qld.gov.au/).

The population projections are only available in certain years such as 2026, 2031 and 2036. To obtain projection estimates for other years between these, the interpolation (linear trend) method may be used.

Queensland Hospital and Health Services

For populations, a Hospital and Health Service (HHS) is a Queensland Health-defined geographic area defined by a collection of Statistical Area Level 2s (SA2s).

Click here for a map of Queensland HHS. 
 
The list of HHS and their geographic boundaries can be downloaded here.
 
For public hospital and health service facilities, a HHS is a group of Queensland Health owned and operated facilities that provide health resources and services mainly, but not exclusively, to people who reside in a particular geographic area.

Relative survival 

Relative survival is the ratio of the survival rate of people with cancer compared to the expected survival of those people without cancer, adjusted for age, sex and year of diagnosis.

Remoteness (of residence/death)

Relative remoteness of residence based on the Australian Standard Geographical Standard (ASGS), with "Remote" and "Very Remote" categories merged into one group and the "Migratory" group excluded.

Remoteness group

Major City

Inner Regional

Outer Regional

Remote & Very Remote

Click here for more information about ASGS remoteness categories.

Sex

Refers to the biological and physiological characteristics that define men and women.

Socioeconomic group

Socioeconomic classification based on the Socio-Economic Indexes for Areas (SEIFA), a census-based measure of social and economic well-being developed by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) and aggregated at the level of Statistical Areas Level 2 (SA2s).

Click here for more information about SEIFA. 

The ABS uses SEIFA scores to rank regions into ten groups (or deciles) numbered 1 to 10, with 1 being the most disadvantaged group and 10 being the most affluent group. This ranking is useful at the national level, but the number of people in each decile often becomes too small for meaningful comparisons when applied to a subset of the population. For this reason, the Explorer further aggregates SEIFA deciles into 5 socioeconomic groups (quintiles):

Group                       SEIFA Quintile

Quintile 1                  Quintile 1 - Disadvantaged

Quintile 2                  Quintile 2 - Middle

Quintile 3                  Quintile 3 - Middle

Quintile 4                  Quintile 4 - Middle

Quintile 5                  Quintile 5 - Affluent

 Statistical Area Level 4 (SA4)

Statistical Area Level 4s (SA4s) are geographical areas built from whole Statistical Area Level 3s (SA3s). 

Click here for more information about ASGS SA4s. 

Relative survival (1-year, 2-year, 5-year, 10-year, 15-year, 20-year, 25-year)

The ratio between the observed survival of those with a particular disease or condition and the expected survival of a comparable group from the general population, taking into account age, sex and year of diagnosis.

Year

The term Year refers to the calendar year in which a particular event occurs.