Age-space-time models for mapping cancer mortality rates

Accurate and precise knowledge about the distribution and evolution of a disease in space and time is crucial to develop health policies and to help researchers to look into risk factors related to the disease. During the last years, the availability of modern computers has made it possible the development of statistical models and estimation techniques to analyze spatio-temporal data. Such spatio-temporal models have been used in disease mapping to study how a disease evolves in space throughout the years. It is common in practice to study age-standardized mortality or incidence risks or rates such that a single measure is provided for the whole region and all age groups. However, if the evolution of the disease is not the same among the age groups, age-specific rates within each region should be provided. In this work, several age-space-time models are considered and fitted to study the evolution of age-specific rates along time in different small areas. Spanish prostate cancer mortality data during the period 1986-2010 will be used for illustration.