Trends in skin cancer incidence by socioeconomic position in Scotland, 1978–2004

BACKGROUND: Non-melanoma skin cancer has been little studied in relation to deprivation. METHODS: Incident cases diagnosed in 1978-2004 were extracted from the Scottish Cancer Register and assigned to quintiles of Carstairs deprivation scores. Age-standardised incidence rates (ASRs) (European standard population) were calculated by deprivation quintile, sex, period of diagnosis, for the three main types of skin cancer. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: As age-standardised incidence of each skin cancer increased significantly over time across all deprivation categories, rates were consistently highest in the least deprived quintile.