Epidemiology of Brain Tumors in Qatar

Background: Brain tumors in general are rare tumors and their epidemiologic features in the Middle East including the state of Qatar is rarely tackled. The objective of this study is to delineate the epidemiologic characteristic of brain tumors in the gulf state of Qatar. Methods: We run a retrospective analysis of brain tumors diagnosed histologically in the main Hospital in Qatar between January 1st, 2006-December 31st 2015. We studied the following indices: Histologic type, gender, age, and location. We obtained the demographic data from Qatar Planning and Statistic Authority (www.psa.gov.qa). Results: A total of 383 cases of primary brain tumors were identified and analyzed during the 10 years period studied. The incidence rate of primary brain tumors is 2.2/100,000 population. Normalized Male/Female ratio is 0.93:1. The commonest histological subtypes were Meningioma (21.9%) and Glioblastoma (18.3 %) followed by Astrocytoma (G2-G3) (18%) and Oligodendroglioma (15.1%). Conclusion: Brain tumors incidence in the state of Qatar is low (2.2/100,000) when compared to developed countries which may reflects the young age population.