An Investigation of the Validity of Death Certification of Cancer of the Lung in Leeds

Bonser, Georgiana M.; Thomas, Gretta M.

doi:10.1038/bjc.1959.1

Cited by 9 publications

(2 citation statements)

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“…Further studies of cause of death certification relating to specific forms of morbidity have also documented extensive variability between the diagnoses contained in two or more records. Inaccuracies on the reporting of death have been noted for all of the following conditions: bacterial meningitis: Goldacre (1977); cancers: Bauer and Robbins (1972), Bosner and Thomas (1959), Dorn and Horn (1941), Hartveit (1979), Miller (1969, Murphy (1967), Rosenblatt (1971), Steer et al (1976); cerebrovascular disease: Florey (1969), KuUer (1967), Schoenberg (1968; chronic respiratory disease: Mitchel (1971); ischaemic heart disease: Rissanen (1975); liver cirrhosis: Hallen and Norden (1964). Myocardial infarction: Paton (1957); paediatric cardiovascular condition: Hook (1977); pulmonary embolism: Gorham (1961), Rossman (1974); pericarditis: Rose (1966); syphilis and alcoholism: Nicholl and Bellows (1934);tuberculosis: Edlin (1978), Khourry (1971);vascular lesions: Kagan (1967).…”

Section: Certifying Death: the Medical Cause Of Deathmentioning

confidence: 99%

Making sense of mortality

Prior

1985

Sociology Health & Illness

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This paper focuses upon the collection and processing of government mortality statistics, and especially upon the organisational and theoretical contexts within which such statistics are assembled. Two items of mortality data in particular are examined with a view to illustrating the broader issues: medical cause of death, and social class of deceased. Using a 10 per cent sample of 1981 Belfast death certificates as a base, the paper attempts to trace the specific stages through which the cause of death and social class data have to pass prior to their incorporation into mortality reports. The paper indicates that there are numerous grounds for believing that both kinds of data are flawed at their points of origin, and that the transformations which the data undergo during coding procedures leads to further distortions of our image of mortality and its social base. It is argued that these flaws and distortions are only partly due to technical and organisational shortcomings, and more likely due to weaknesses in the theoretical frameworks through which the data are sifted. The paper concludes by suggesting that the existing arrangements for registering deaths, dominated as they are by the principles of forensic medicine, are more properly viewed as a system for policing the dead, than as a mechanism for generating worthwhile data about diseases and their social distribution.

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Section: Certifying Death: the Medical Cause Of Deathmentioning

confidence: 99%

Making sense of mortality

Prior

1985

Sociology Health & Illness

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“…In a study of death certification of lung cancer in the city of Leeds, Bonser and Thomas (27) found that out of 953 cases, only 267 (28 per cent) were confirmed by autopsy. There were 210 cases (22 per cent) in which the diagnosis was based on clinical histology.…”

Section: Vol XVmentioning

confidence: 99%

Simulation of Lung Cancer by Metastases

Rosenblatt¹,

Lisa²

1967

J American Geriatrics Society

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The widespread use of radiology, bronchial and lymph-node biopsy, exploratory thoractomy, and cytology has made it readily possible to detect lung cancer clinically but there are many diagnostic pitfalls inherent in these procedures. Autopsy follow-up has made it increasingly apparent that metastatic tumors may produce findings entirely compatible with the diagnosis of bronchogenic carcinoma. MAGNITUDE OF PROBLEMOne of the earliest demonstrations of metastases simulating bronchogenic carcinoma was reported by Funk (1) in 1930. The case had been diagnosed as primary lung cancer by bronchial biopsy but postmortem examination revealed a primary carcinoma of the pancreas. In 1935 Farrell (2) reported 2 cases of malignant melanoma and carcinoma of the endometrium respectively, with bronchial involvement producing the type of massive atelectasis found in bronchogenic carcinoma. Maytum and Vinson (3) in 1936 described a case of hypernephroma with metastatic ulceration into a bronchus. Peery (4) in 1940 reported 3 cases of extensive bronchial metastasis and emphasized that malignant involvement of the bronchial mucosa was not an absolute criterion of primary origin. Raine (5) in 1941 found a large papillomatous mass in a bronchus with histologic findings of adenocarcinoma. A subsequent pneumonectomy revealed that the pulmonary tumor had been metastatic from a previously resected carcinoma of the colon.Pulmonary metastases from carcinomas of the ovary and thyroid, simulating bronchogenic carcinoma, were described in 1942 by Freedlander and Greenfield (6). A case of gastric cancer with metastasis to the left upper lobe of the lung was reported by King and Castleman (7) in 1943; the diagnosis of lung cancer had been established by aspiration biopsy and the patient subjected to lobectomy. Leach (8) in 1950 reported 3 cases of carcinoma of the pancreas erroneously diagnosed as bronchogenic carcinoma; in one of the cases the bronchial biopsy had shown lung cancer. In the same year Seiler et al. (9) found that in 10 of 17 cases with metastatic bronchial involvement (59 per cent), the bronchial biopsy findings were positive.Abbott (10) in 1961 reported 13 cases of endobronchial metastases masquerading as bronchogenic carcinoma. In 1962 Campagna and Greenberg (11) described a case of metastatic carcinoma of the rectum diagnosed as

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Lung cancer and smoking in Danish women

Jensen

1975

Intl Journal of Cancer

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In most developed countries, including Denmark, cancer of the lung is the most frequent malignant disease among men, whereas the problem is less among women. Examination of Danish mortality data for the period 1931 to 1972 reveals a 5-fold increase in female rates as opposed to a 16-fold increase in male rates. Since about 1960 female rates have, however, increased faster than male rates with a consequent decline in the male-famale ratio. It is demonstrated that more recent female birth-cohorts have higher mortality rates than the older ones. The increasing mortality from lung cancer among more recent female cohorts is shown to parallel increasing proportions of smokers in these cohorts. Further data are presented to indicate that not only is smoking more widespread among young than among old women, but the proportion of cigarette smokers among all smokers falls from 98% in the youngest to 33% in the oldest agegroup. No causal relationship between smoking and lung cancer can be claimed from the evidence presented. The present findings are, however, what would be expected if cigarette-smoking were an aetiological factor in female lung cancer.

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An Investigation of the Validity of Death Certification of Cancer of the Lung in Leeds

Cited by 9 publications

References 1 publication

Making sense of mortality

Making sense of mortality

Simulation of Lung Cancer by Metastases

Lung cancer and smoking in Danish women

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