Validation of the completeness and accuracy of the Northern Ireland Cancer Registry

T. M. Kearney; C. Donnelly; J. M. Kelly; E. P. O'Callaghan; C. R. Fox; A. T. Gavin

doi:10.1016/j.canep.2015.02.005

Validation of the completeness and accuracy of the Northern Ireland Cancer Registry

T. M. Kearney, C. Donnelly, J. M. Kelly, E. P. O'Callaghan, C. R. Fox, A. T. Gavin^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article

12 Citations (Scopus)

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Abstract

Background: It has been suggested that inaccuracies in cancer registries are distorting UK survival statistics. This study compared the Northern Ireland Cancer Registry (NICR) database of living patients, with independent data held by Northern Ireland's General Practitioners (GPs) to compare and validate the recorded diagnoses and dates held by the registry.

Methods: All 387 GP practice managers were invited to participate. 100 practices (25.84%) responded. Comparisons were made for 17,102 patients, equivalent to 29.08% of the living patients (58,798) extracted from the NICR between 1993 and 2010.

Results: There were no significant differences (p > 0.05) between the responding and nonresponding GP patient profiles for age, marital status or deprivation score. However, the responding GPs included more female patients (p = 0.02). NICR data accuracy was high, 0.08% of GP cancer patients (n = 15) were not included in registry records and 0.02% (n = 2) had a diagnosis date which varied more than 2 weeks from GP records (3 weeks and 5 months). The NICR had recorded two different tumour types and three different tumour statuses (benign vs. malignant) to the GPs.

Conclusion: This comparison demonstrates a high level of accuracy within the NICR and that the survival statistics based on this data can be relied upon.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	401-404
Number of pages	4
Journal	Cancer epidemiology
Volume	39
Issue number	3
Early online date	12 Mar 2015
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.canep.2015.02.005
Publication status	Published - Jun 2015

Keywords

Cancer registry completeness
Survival
Unique patient identifier
Validation

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Cancer Research
Oncology
Epidemiology

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10.1016/j.canep.2015.02.005

Validation of the completeness and accuracy of the Northern Ireland Cancer Registry
© 2015, Elsevier. Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ which permits distribution and reproduction for non-commercial purposes, provided the author and source are cited.
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title = "Validation of the completeness and accuracy of the Northern Ireland Cancer Registry",

abstract = "Background: It has been suggested that inaccuracies in cancer registries are distorting UK survival statistics. This study compared the Northern Ireland Cancer Registry (NICR) database of living patients, with independent data held by Northern Ireland's General Practitioners (GPs) to compare and validate the recorded diagnoses and dates held by the registry. Methods: All 387 GP practice managers were invited to participate. 100 practices (25.84%) responded. Comparisons were made for 17,102 patients, equivalent to 29.08% of the living patients (58,798) extracted from the NICR between 1993 and 2010. Results: There were no significant differences (p > 0.05) between the responding and nonresponding GP patient profiles for age, marital status or deprivation score. However, the responding GPs included more female patients (p = 0.02). NICR data accuracy was high, 0.08% of GP cancer patients (n = 15) were not included in registry records and 0.02% (n = 2) had a diagnosis date which varied more than 2 weeks from GP records (3 weeks and 5 months). The NICR had recorded two different tumour types and three different tumour statuses (benign vs. malignant) to the GPs. Conclusion: This comparison demonstrates a high level of accuracy within the NICR and that the survival statistics based on this data can be relied upon.",

keywords = "Cancer registry completeness, Survival, Unique patient identifier, Validation",

author = "Kearney, {T. M.} and C. Donnelly and Kelly, {J. M.} and O'Callaghan, {E. P.} and Fox, {C. R.} and Gavin, {A. T.}",

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AU - Donnelly, C.

AU - Kelly, J. M.

AU - O'Callaghan, E. P.

AU - Fox, C. R.

AU - Gavin, A. T.

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N2 - Background: It has been suggested that inaccuracies in cancer registries are distorting UK survival statistics. This study compared the Northern Ireland Cancer Registry (NICR) database of living patients, with independent data held by Northern Ireland's General Practitioners (GPs) to compare and validate the recorded diagnoses and dates held by the registry. Methods: All 387 GP practice managers were invited to participate. 100 practices (25.84%) responded. Comparisons were made for 17,102 patients, equivalent to 29.08% of the living patients (58,798) extracted from the NICR between 1993 and 2010. Results: There were no significant differences (p > 0.05) between the responding and nonresponding GP patient profiles for age, marital status or deprivation score. However, the responding GPs included more female patients (p = 0.02). NICR data accuracy was high, 0.08% of GP cancer patients (n = 15) were not included in registry records and 0.02% (n = 2) had a diagnosis date which varied more than 2 weeks from GP records (3 weeks and 5 months). The NICR had recorded two different tumour types and three different tumour statuses (benign vs. malignant) to the GPs. Conclusion: This comparison demonstrates a high level of accuracy within the NICR and that the survival statistics based on this data can be relied upon.

AB - Background: It has been suggested that inaccuracies in cancer registries are distorting UK survival statistics. This study compared the Northern Ireland Cancer Registry (NICR) database of living patients, with independent data held by Northern Ireland's General Practitioners (GPs) to compare and validate the recorded diagnoses and dates held by the registry. Methods: All 387 GP practice managers were invited to participate. 100 practices (25.84%) responded. Comparisons were made for 17,102 patients, equivalent to 29.08% of the living patients (58,798) extracted from the NICR between 1993 and 2010. Results: There were no significant differences (p > 0.05) between the responding and nonresponding GP patient profiles for age, marital status or deprivation score. However, the responding GPs included more female patients (p = 0.02). NICR data accuracy was high, 0.08% of GP cancer patients (n = 15) were not included in registry records and 0.02% (n = 2) had a diagnosis date which varied more than 2 weeks from GP records (3 weeks and 5 months). The NICR had recorded two different tumour types and three different tumour statuses (benign vs. malignant) to the GPs. Conclusion: This comparison demonstrates a high level of accuracy within the NICR and that the survival statistics based on this data can be relied upon.

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