The Spatial Factors and Regional Concentration of Cancer-Related Deaths in Turkey

Abstract

Cancer is the second leading cause of death in the world after cardiovascular disease. Most studies done on cancer in the fields of health geography and epidemiology focus on the spatial distribution of cases. The number of studies addressing the relationship between cancer and spatial factors seems to be low. This study looks at the regional distribution of cancer deaths in Turkey within the context of spatial and environmental factors. The data were obtained from various institutions such as TURKSTAT. We used the coefficients to pin point the number of cancer deaths that occurred in a given location, as well as looking at the environmental and spatial factors behind using global and geographically weighted regression analysis. The data were analyzed both on a national and NUTS Level3 scale. Our results show that the spatial spread of cancer deaths in Turkey and in certain regions is only increasing over time, and that this is exacerbated by factors such as smoking, a lack of prolonged exposure to sunlight, and population density. However, it has been determined that the effects of these factors differ on a regional scale. Our study submits a different perspective to the literature with the findings and different analysis techniques.