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Utility of death certificate data in predicting cancer incidence
Author(s) -
Bedford Ronald L.,
Lourens Spencer G.,
Lynch Charles F.,
Smith Brian J.,
Field R. William
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
american journal of industrial medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.7
H-Index - 104
eISSN - 1097-0274
pISSN - 0271-3586
DOI - 10.1002/ajim.22242
Subject(s) - death certificate , medicine , incidence (geometry) , cancer registry , cancer , odds , cause of death , odds ratio , cohort study , cohort , logistic regression , cancer incidence , demography , gerontology , disease , physics , sociology , optics
Background Studies often rely on death certificates to identify cancer occurrence. This research assessed the death certificate's ability to reflect cancer incidence and factors that influence agreement with cancer registry data. Methods This study compared death certificates to cancer incidence data for an occupational cohort of 1,795 deceased workers who were registered by the Iowa Cancer Registry (ICR) between 1973 and 2005. Logistic regression models examined the effects of factors such as survival time, age at diagnosis, and gender on the odds of agreement between death certificate and incidence data. Results Death certificates under‐reported cancer incidence by 10–100%, depending on site. A 1‐year increase in survival decreased the odds of agreement between death certificate and ICR data by 18%. Younger and female workers had increased odds of agreement. Conclusions Death certificates can be useful predictors of cancer incidence, particularly for diseases with shorter survival and among subjects diagnosed earlier in life. Am. J. Ind. Med. 57:153–162, 2014. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.