Abstract: Background and purpose: Cervical cancer is one of the most common malignant tumors and poses a great threat to women’s fitness. Monitoring its present status and variations over the past 3 decades could provide scientific basis for prevention and control strategies of cervical cancer in China. Methods: This study collected the mortality rates of cervical cancer data in Chinese women from 1987 to 2014, described the features and trends of age-standardized rates and truncated rates, and estimated the variations via joinpoint regression models. Results: The mortality rates of cervical cancer for rural women were roughly higher than those for urban women. It showed downward trends for both urban and rural women, and the average rate of decrease for rural women (AAPC=3.94%, P<0.01) was higher than that for urban women (AAPC=1.79%, P<0.01). The gap between urban and rural areas was narrowing, with urban rates exceeding rural rates after 2010. The mortality rates of cervical cancer increased with time for urban women aged from 30 to 54, decreased with time for the elderly urban women and all the rural women. Conclusion: The overall mortality rates of cervical cancer took a desirable turn in China over the past 3 decades, while the status for the middle-aged urban women was getting worse as well as the elderly in both urban and rural areas during the past 10 years.

Key words: Cervical cancer, Mortality, Joinpoint regression, Trends