Reliability of Cancer Registry Records
Author Information
Author(s): M.C. Gulliford, J. Bell, H.M. Bourne, A. Petruckevitch
Primary Institution: United Medical and Dental Schools, St Thomas' Campus
Hypothesis
How reliable are the data from the Thames Cancer Registry compared to medical records?
Conclusion
Cancer registry data are generally reliable, but staging information is often unclear.
Supporting Evidence
- High levels of agreement were observed for five continuous variables and for tumour morphology.
- Data concerning tumour stage did not clearly distinguish superficial from invasive tumours.
- Of 203 cases receiving radiotherapy, 88% were recorded as such at the cancer registry.
Takeaway
This study looked at cancer records to see if they matched up with hospital notes. Most of the time, they did, but sometimes the details about how advanced the cancer was weren't clear.
Methodology
Data from the Thames Cancer Registry were compared with independently abstracted data from medical records for patients diagnosed with bladder cancer in 1982.
Potential Biases
The selection of cases was not unbiased, as some records could not be retrieved.
Limitations
Some cases were excluded due to lost records or unconfirmed diagnoses, which may affect the reliability of the findings.
Participant Demographics
Men aged less than 75 years diagnosed with bladder cancer in 1982.
Statistical Information
Confidence Interval
kappa 0.88 (0.79-0.97) for radiotherapy data
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