National-wide estimates of female breast cancer (BC) mortality rates in China are largely derived from the global burden of disease study or global cancer statistics, population-based surveillance data remain scarce. The current study aims to analyze the trend changes of female BC mortality rates from 2004 to 2021 and to inform targeted control strategies. Age-specific deaths and mortality rates from 2004 to 2021 were extracted from the Chinese Cause-of-Death Surveillance Dataset. Joinpoint regression model was applied to explore the trend changes with average annual percent change (AAPC) in mortality rates. A total of 108,063 occurred due to female BC from 2004 to 2021. The crude mortality rate (CMR) (AAPC = 2.21%) showed an increased trend and the age standard mortality rate (AAPC China = 0.68%, AAPC world = −0.29%) remained relatively stable from 2004 to 2021. Despite higher CMR in urban areas, the absolute urban deaths were fewer. Both urban and rural areas experienced an upward trend in CMR (AAPC urban = 1.08%, AAPC rural = 3.13%). The age standard mortality rate in urban and rural areas remained relatively stable (AAPC urban = −0.13%, AAPC rual = 1.35%). Age-stratified analysis showed the CMR remained relatively stable in females, whereas urban females at age of 0 to 24 years (AAPC = 26.98%) and rural females exhibited significant increases at ages of 25 to 34 years (AAPC = 2.31%), 35 to 64 years (AAPC = 0.80%), ≥65 years (AAPC = 1.01%). Expanding screening coverage in rural areas and improving the accessibility of BC screening and treatment for the elderly can effectively enhance the utilization of healthcare resources.
Xiong et al. (Fri,) studied this question.