THE IMPACT OF RACE AND OTHER LARGE-SCALE PREDICTORS ON THE INCIDENCE OF MELANOMA SKIN CANCER-A BIOSTATISTICAL ANALYSIS

Melanoma is one of the most severe forms of skin cancer and can be life-threatening due to metastasis if not caught early on in its development. Over the past decade, the U.S. Government added a Healthy People 2020 objective to reduce the melanoma skin cancer rate in the U.S. population. Now that the decade has come to a close, this research investigates possible large-scale risk factors that could lead to incidence of melanoma in the population using logistic regression and propensity score matching. Logistic regression results showed that Caucasians are 14.765 times more likely to get melanoma compared to non-Caucasians; however, after adjustment using propensity scoring, this value was adjusted to 11.605 times more likely for Caucasians than non-Caucasians. Cholesterol, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, and Hypertension predictors also showed significance in the initial logistic regression. By using the results found in this experiment, the door has been opened for further analysis of larger-scale predictors and gives public health programs the initial information needed to create successful skin safety advocacy plans.