Validation and Quality Assessment of the Kilimanjaro Cancer Registry.

Journal Article (Journal Article)

PURPOSE: Global cancer burden has increasingly shifted to low- and middle-income countries and is particularly pronounced in Africa. There remains a lack of comprehensive cancer information as a result of limited cancer registry development. In Moshi, Tanzania, a regional cancer registry exists at Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Center. Data quality is unknown. Our objective was to evaluate the completeness and quality of the Kilimanjaro Cancer Registry (KCR). METHODS: In October 2015, we conducted a retrospective review of KCR by validating the internal consistency of registry records with medical and pathology records. We randomly sampled approximately 100 total registry cases. Four reviewers not associated with the KCR manually collected data elements from medical records and compared them with KCR data. RESULTS: All 100 reviewed registry cases had complete cancer site and morphology included in the registry. Six had a recorded stage. For the majority (n = 92), the basis of diagnosis was pathology. Pathology reports were found in the medical record for 40% of patients; for the remainder, these were stored separately in the pathology department. Of sampled registry cases, the KCR and medical records were 98% and 94% concordant for primary cancer site and morphology, respectively. For 28%, recorded diagnosis dates were within 14 days of what was found in the medical record, and for 32%, they were within 30 days. CONCLUSION: The KCR has a high level of concordance for classification and coding when data are retrieved for validation. This parameter is one of the most important for measuring data quality in a regional cancer registry.

Full Text

Duke Authors

Cited Authors

  • Zullig, LL; Schroeder, K; Nyindo, P; Namwai, T; Silayo, E; Msomba, A; Munishi, MO; Karia, F; Muiruri, C; Bartlett, J; Maro, V; Zafar, SY

Published Date

  • December 2016

Published In

Volume / Issue

  • 2 / 6

Start / End Page

  • 381 - 386

PubMed ID

  • 28717724

Pubmed Central ID

  • PMC5493247

International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)

  • 2378-9506

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

  • 10.1200/JGO.2015.002873

Language

  • eng

Conference Location

  • United States