Incompleteness trends of epidemiological variables in a Brazilian high complexity cancer registry: An ecological time series study

Abstract

Hospital Cancer Registries serve as a vital source of information for clinical and epidemiological research, allowing the evaluation of patient care outcomes through therapeutic protocol analysis and patient survival assessment. This study aims to assess the trend of incompleteness in the epidemiological variables within the Hospital Cancer Registry of a renowned oncology center in a Brazilian state. An ecological time-series study was conducted using secondary data from the Hospital Santa Rita de Cássia Cancer Registry in Espírito Santo between 2000 and 2016. Data completeness was categorized as follows: excellent (<5%), good (5%–10%), fair (10%–20%), poor (20%–50%), and very poor (>50%), based on the percentage of missing information. Descriptive and bivariate statistical analyses were performed using the free software RStudio (version 2022.07.2) and R (version 4.1.0). The Mann–Kendall test was used to assess temporal trends between the evaluated years, and the Friedman test was employed to evaluate quality scores across the years. Among the variables assessed, birthplace, race/color, education, occupation, origin, marital status, history of alcohol and tobacco consumption, previous diagnosis and treatment, the most important basis for tumor diagnosis, tumor-node-metastasis staging (TNM) staging, and clinical tumor staging by group (TNM) showed the highest levels of incompleteness. Conversely, other epidemiological variables demonstrated excellent completeness, reaching 100% throughout the study period. Significant trends were observed over the years for history of alcohol consumption (P < .001), history of tobacco consumption (P < .001), TNM staging (P = .016), clinical tumor staging by group (TNM) (P = .002), first treatment received at the hospital (P = .012), disease status at the end of the first treatment at the hospital (P < .001), and family history of cancer (P < .001), and tumor laterality (P = .032). While most epidemiological variables within the Hospital Santa Rita de Cássia Cancer Registry exhibited excellent completeness, some important variables, such as TNM staging and clinical staging, showed high levels of incompleteness. Ensuring high-quality data within Cancer Registries is crucial for a comprehensive understanding of the health-disease process.

Temporal Trends in the Completeness of Epidemiological Variables in a Hospital-Based Cancer Registry of a Pediatric Oncology Center in Brazil

“…The definition of quality dimensions was used to assess the completeness of data in the hospital-based cancer registry (HbCR) [20]. Completeness refers to the proportion of fields filled with non-null values, and the proportion of missing data was classified using the classification proposed by Romero and Cunha (2006) [21], as described in detail in other previous publications [19,22]. In this study, a field filled with the category "ignored", the numeral zero, an unknown date, or a term indicating missing data were considered to represent incompleteness [19,22].…”

“…We utilized secondary data from Espírito Santo, a state in the Southeast Region of Brazil. The Espírito Santo Oncology Care Network operates in three health regions, namely, Metropolitan, South, and North/Central [19,22]. All cancer cases in children and adolescents in the state are attended to by a single UNACON located in the state capital, Vitória, at the Hospital Estadual Infantil Nossa Senhora da Glória (HEINSG).…”

“…HEISNG has a well-established HbCR, and its databases are sent annually to the Brazilian Hospital Cancer Registry Integrator. The hospital also has an Oncology Care Line, which facilitates the care network's flow in the state, improves accessibility to procedures related to cancer diagnosis and treatment, and enhances access to health services throughout the state [22,23].…”

Cancer symptom clusters, cardiovascular risk, and quality of life of patients with cancer undergoing chemotherapy: A longitudinal pilot study

“…[19] The social and demographic aspects of patients with cancer are of great importance in the epidemiology of cancer, such as the age of patients, as such information provides information on the natural history of the disease. [20] Moreover, to successfully treat these patients, the joint and collaborative work of different professionals that make up multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary teams is required to improve the health outcomes of patients with cancer. [21,22] Hence, the present study aimed to examine the feasibility of longitudinal tests of CSC pattern and the QoL of patients with cancer undergoing outpatient chemotherapy, identify the cardiovascular risk of patients with cancer undergoing outpatient chemotherapy, and investigate the most prevalent CSC and their impact on the QoL of these patients.…”

“…[19] The social and demographic aspects of patients with cancer are of great importance in the epidemiology of cancer, such as the age of patients, as such information provides information on the natural history of the disease. [20] Moreover, to successfully treat these patients, the joint and collaborative work of different professionals that make up multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary teams is required to improve the health outcomes of patients with cancer. [21,22]…”