Biomaterial Database

Information gained from linking SEER Cancer Registry Data to state-level hospital discharge abstracts. Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results. 2000

J M Brooks, and E Chrischilles, and S Scott, and J Ritho, and S Chen-Hardee

College of Pharmacy, University of Iowa, Iowa City 52242, USA. john-brook@uiowa.edu

OBJECTIVE Our goal was to link patients from the Iowa Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Registry to their respective inpatient discharge abstracts from an Iowa Health Care Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP)-formatted database and evaluate whether this linkage provides information related to cancer treatment variation. METHODS Computer algorithms linked patients from the Iowa SEER Registry to discharge abstracts using 5 variables consistently defined between the databases (hospital identification, date of birth, admission date, discharge date, and zip code). Abstracts were reviewed for validity, and links not passing face validity were excluded. METHODS Our sample contained 7,296 patients with early-stage breast cancer (I, IIa, IIb) with surgery from the Iowa SEER Registry from 1989 through 1994 with contacts only with Iowa hospitals. RESULTS Inpatient discharges abstracts were linked to 86.4% of the patients in our sample. More than 96% of the linked discharges for Medicare patients had a corresponding Medicare claim. Over 45% of the linked patients were not covered by Medicare. Comorbidity indexes were comparable to other published sources. Significant differences in diagnosis, comorbidities, and treatment were found across third-party payers. CONCLUSIONS This linkage provides a valuable source of comorbidity and insurance data and perhaps the only source of secondary clinical information for the uninsured. This linkage is best suited for cancers requiring inpatient stays for treatment and for those states where border crossing for treatment is low.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D007344	Insurance Claim Reporting	The design, completion, and filing of forms with the insurer.	Claim Reporting, Insurance,Reporting, Insurance Claim
D007484	Iowa	State bounded on the north by Minnesota, on the east by Wisconsin and Illinois, on the south by Missouri, and on the west by Nebraska and South Dakota.
D008498	Medical Record Linkage	The creation and maintenance of medical and vital records in multiple institutions in a manner that will facilitate the combined use of the records of identified individuals.	Record Linkage, Medical,Linkage, Medical Record,Linkages, Medical Record,Medical Record Linkages,Record Linkages, Medical
D008875	Middle Aged	An adult aged 45 - 64 years.	Middle Age
D009367	Neoplasm Staging	Methods which attempt to express in replicable terms the extent of the neoplasm in the patient.	Cancer Staging,Staging, Neoplasm,Tumor Staging,TNM Classification,TNM Staging,TNM Staging System,Classification, TNM,Classifications, TNM,Staging System, TNM,Staging Systems, TNM,Staging, Cancer,Staging, TNM,Staging, Tumor,System, TNM Staging,Systems, TNM Staging,TNM Classifications,TNM Staging Systems
D010351	Patient Discharge	The administrative process of discharging the patient, alive or dead, from hospitals or other health facilities.	Discharge Planning,Discharge Plannings,Discharge, Patient,Discharges, Patient,Patient Discharges,Planning, Discharge,Plannings, Discharge
D010818	Practice Patterns, Physicians'	Patterns of practice related to diagnosis and treatment as especially influenced by cost of the service requested and provided.	Clinical Practice Patterns,Physician's Practice Patterns,Clinical Practice Pattern,Pattern, Clinical Practice,Patterns, Clinical Practice,Practice Pattern, Clinical,Practice Patterns, Clinical,Practice Patterns, Physician's,Prescribing Patterns, Physician,Physician Practice Patterns,Physician Prescribing Pattern,Physician Prescribing Patterns,Physician's Practice Pattern,Physicians' Practice Pattern,Physicians' Practice Patterns,Practice Pattern, Physician's,Practice Pattern, Physicians',Practice Patterns, Physician,Prescribing Pattern, Physician
D011159	Population Surveillance	Ongoing scrutiny of a population (general population, study population, target population, etc.), generally using methods distinguished by their practicability, uniformity, and frequently their rapidity, rather than by complete accuracy.	Surveillance, Population
D001943	Breast Neoplasms	Tumors or cancer of the human BREAST.	Breast Cancer,Breast Tumors,Cancer of Breast,Breast Carcinoma,Cancer of the Breast,Human Mammary Carcinoma,Malignant Neoplasm of Breast,Malignant Tumor of Breast,Mammary Cancer,Mammary Carcinoma, Human,Mammary Neoplasm, Human,Mammary Neoplasms, Human,Neoplasms, Breast,Tumors, Breast,Breast Carcinomas,Breast Malignant Neoplasm,Breast Malignant Neoplasms,Breast Malignant Tumor,Breast Malignant Tumors,Breast Neoplasm,Breast Tumor,Cancer, Breast,Cancer, Mammary,Cancers, Mammary,Carcinoma, Breast,Carcinoma, Human Mammary,Carcinomas, Breast,Carcinomas, Human Mammary,Human Mammary Carcinomas,Human Mammary Neoplasm,Human Mammary Neoplasms,Mammary Cancers,Mammary Carcinomas, Human,Neoplasm, Breast,Neoplasm, Human Mammary,Neoplasms, Human Mammary,Tumor, Breast
D005260	Female		Females