SUMMARY AND DESCRIPTIVE STATISTICS HLT 362

Descriptive statistics are important in any research study, but they are especially important in healthcare research studies. This is because the goal of healthcare research is to improve the health and wellbeing of people, and descriptive statistics help researchers to understand the characteristics of the patients who are being studied. Descriptive statistics can tell researchers things like how old the patients are, what gender they are, what race they are, what type of illness or condition they have, and how severe their illness or condition is. By understanding these characteristics, researchers can then begin to look for patterns and associations between different factors (such as age and race) and different diseases or conditions.

There are a few different measures of variation that are commonly used when analyzing healthcare data. These measures can give you a good sense of how different groups of patients vary in their health outcomes or in the care that they receive. The first measure is the mean. This is simply the average value for a given group of patients. It can be useful to compare the mean outcome between different groups of patients, such as those who received different treatments. The second measure is the standard deviation. This gives you a sense of how much variation there is within a group of patients. A higher standard deviation indicates more variation, while a lower standard deviation indicates less variation. The third measure is the median.

The National Cancer Institute (NCI) is the Federal government’s principal agency for cancer research and training. NCI coordinates the National Cancer Program, which includes basic and applied research, cancer control, and cancer education and information activities. The data on the “National Cancer Institute Data” website is from the NCI’s Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Program (Kline et al., 2018). The SEER Program collects data on cancer incidence (new cases), mortality (deaths), survival, prevalence (the number of people living with cancer), and care at diagnosis from population-based sources in the United States.

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Analysis of Descriptive Statistics

Table 1: American Indian / Alaska Native (includes Hispanic) Population

American Indian / Alaska Native (includes Hispanic) Population
Measures Of Central tendency	Value
Average	43.2700
Median	43.8500
Mode (Number which appear most)	There is no number which appears most

Table 2: Black_includes Hispanic

Table 2: Black_includes Hispanic
Measures Of Central tendency	Value
mean	70.0700
Median	71.4200
Mode	There is no number which appears most

Table 3_Hispanic_any race

Table 3_Hispanic_any race
Measures Of Central tendency	Value
Average/mean	62.7300
Median	64.5500
Mode (Number which appear most)	65.8000

Table 4_Asian / Pacific Islander_includes Hispanic

Table 4_Asian / Pacific Islander_includes Hispanic
Measures Of Central tendency	Value
Average/mean	38.5200
Median	38.9100
Mode (Number which appear most)	36.6000

Table 5_Hispanic_any race

Table 2: Hispanic (any race)
Measures Of Central tendency	Value
Average/mean	31.49
Median	32.10
Mode (Number which appear most)	34.10

Tables 1–5 indicate the overall number of cancer cases documented from all racial groupings. For the rate measurements, a sample population of 100,000 persons was used. According to the descriptive analysis, black persons had the greatest risk of having cancer infections, with white people coming in a close second. Hispanics have been shown to have the lowest risk of having cancer related infections. The information used for the analytic technique was collected in 2016, hence the research period spanned a 16-year period beginning in the year 2000.

Overall, there is a striking disparities in cancer incidence and mortality rates between African Americans and other racial groups in the United States. While the overall cancer incidence rate for African Americans is 10% higher than for whites, the mortality rate is a staggering 33% higher (Li et al., 2019). The discrepancy exists across all types of cancer, but is especially pronounced for cancers of the breast, prostate, and lung. There are a variety of factors that contribute to this divide. African Americans are more likely to live in poverty and lack access to quality healthcare. They also tend to have a unhealthy diet and lifestyle choices which increase their risks for developing cancer (DeSantis et al., 2019). In addition, certain genetic mutations that increase cancer risks are more common among people of African descent.

Measures of Variation from the Cancer Institute Data

Table 6: Measures of Variation

Ethnicity	American Indian / Alaska Native_includes Hispanic	Hispanic_any race	Black_includes Hispanic	White_includes Hispanic	Asian / Pacific Islander_includes Hispanic
Variance for each category	27.71933333	8.399291667	45.428960	26.162000	5.670830
Standard Deviation	5.264915321	2.898153	6.7401000	5.1148800	2.38000
Maximum	51.7000000	35.0000	79.0000	68.80200	41.80000
Minimum	32.000000	26.0000	57.42000	53.20000	34.00000
Range	19.700000	9.00000	21.60000	15.60000	7.800000

Table 6 shows the results of the dataset’s variation. According to the findings, the black population recorded the most variation/fluctuation in data. The measurements were taken once per 100,000 people involved in the cohort study.

Conclusion

According to the American Cancer Society, African Americans have the highest rates of cancer incidence and mortality of any racial or ethnic group in the United States.  While the overall cancer incidence rate has been declining since the early 1990s, this decline has been much slower among African Americans.  Additionally, African Americans are more likely than other groups to be diagnosed with certain types of cancer, such as breast cancer, prostate cancer, and colorectal cancer. There are a number of possible explanations for these disparities in cancer rates.  One possibility is that African Americans are more likely to live in areas with higher levels of pollution and exposure to toxic chemicals. This could lead to a higher risk of developing cancer.

References

DeSantis, C. E., Miller, K. D., Goding Sauer, A., Jemal, A., & Siegel, R. L. (2019). Cancer statistics for african Americans, 2019. CA: a cancer journal for clinicians, 69(3), 211-233. https://acsjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.3322/caac.21555

Kline, R. M., Arora, N. K., Bradley, C. J., Brauer, E. R., Graves, D. L., Lunsford, N. B., … & Ganz, P. A. (2018). Long-term survivorship care after cancer treatment-summary of a 2017 National Cancer Policy Forum Workshop. JNCI: Journal of the National Cancer Institute, 110(12), 1300-1310. https://doi.org/10.1093/jnci/djy176

Li, T., Higgins, J. P., & Deeks, J. J. (2019). Collecting data. Cochrane handbook for systematic reviews of interventions, 109-141. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119536604.ch5

Assessment Description

There is often the requirement to evaluate descriptive statistics for data within the organization or for health care information. Every year the National Cancer Institute collects and publishes data based on patient demographics. Understanding differences between the groups based upon the collected data often informs health care professionals towards research, treatment options, or patient education.

Using the data on the “National Cancer Institute Data” Excel spreadsheet, calculate the descriptive statistics indicated below for each of the Race/Ethnicity groups. Refer to your textbook and the topic Resources, as needed, for assistance in with creating Excel formulas.

Provide the following descriptive statistics:

1. Measures of Central Tendency: Mean, Median, and Mode
2. Measures of Variation: Variance, Standard Deviation, and Range (a formula is not needed for Range).
3. Once the data is calculated, provide a 150-250 word analysis of the descriptive statistics on the spreadsheet. This should include differences and health outcomes between groups.

APA style is not required, but solid academic writing is expected.

This assignment uses a rubric. Please review the rubric prior to beginning the assignment to become familiar with the expectations for successful completion. 

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