Using administrative health data to describe colorectal and lung cancer care in New South Wales, Australia: a validation study

• Published in: BMC health services research 2012-11, Vol.12 (1), p.387-387, Article 387
• Main Authors: Goldsbury, David E, Armstrong, Katie, Simonella, Leonardo, Armstrong, Bruce K, O'Connell, Dianne L
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Analysis; Breast cancer; Breast Neoplasms - classification; Breast Neoplasms - diagnosis; Breast Neoplasms - epidemiology; Cancer; Cancer patients; Cardiovascular disease; Care and treatment; Chemotherapy; Colonoscopy; Colorectal cancer; Colorectal Neoplasms - classification; Colorectal Neoplasms - diagnosis; Colorectal Neoplasms - epidemiology; Comorbidities; Comorbidity; Councils; Data Collection - standards; Data entry; Disease; Disease stage; Female; Health Services Accessibility - standards; Heart; Humans; Investigative procedures; Ischemia; Linked data; Lung cancer; Male; Medical care; Medical Record Linkage - methods; Medical research; Metastasis; Middle Aged; Neoplasm Staging; New South Wales - epidemiology; Oncology, Experimental; Patient Admission - statistics & numerical data; Patients; Population Surveillance - methods; Prostate cancer; Public health; Public health records; Quality management; Radiation therapy; Radiotherapy; Registries; Reproducibility of Results; Sex Distribution; Surgery; Surveys; Validation; Validation studies
• ISSN: 1472-6963; 1472-6963
• DOI: 10.1186/1472-6963-12-387

Monitoring treatment patterns is crucial to improving cancer patient care. Our aim was to determine the accuracy of linked routinely collected administrative health data for monitoring colorectal and lung cancer care in New South Wales (NSW), Australia. Colorectal and lung cancer cases diagnosed in NSW between 2000 and 2002 were identified from the NSW Central Cancer Registry (CCR) and linked to their hospital discharge records in the NSW Admitted Patient Data Collection (APDC). These records were then linked to data from two relevant population-based patterns of care surveys. The main outcome measures were the sensitivity and specificity of data from the CCR and APDC for disease staging, investigative procedures, curative surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and selected comorbidities. Data for 2917 colorectal and 1580 lung cancer cases were analysed. Unknown disease stage was more common for lung cancer in the administrative data (18%) than in the survey (2%). Colonoscopies were captured reasonably accurately in the administrative data compared with the surveys (82% and 79% respectively; 91% sensitivity, 53% specificity) but all other colorectal or lung cancer diagnostic procedures were under-enumerated. Ninety-one percent of colorectal cancer cases had potentially curative surgery recorded in the administrative data compared to 95% in the survey (96% sensitivity, 92% specificity), with similar accuracy for lung cancer (16% and 17%; 92% sensitivity, 99% specificity). Chemotherapy (~40% sensitivity) and radiotherapy (sensitivity≤30%) were vastly under-enumerated in the administrative data. The only comorbidity that was recorded reasonably accurately in the administrative data was diabetes. Linked routinely collected administrative health data provided reasonably accurate information on potentially curative surgical treatment, colonoscopies and comorbidities such as diabetes. Other diagnostic procedures, comorbidities, chemotherapy and radiotherapy were not well enumerated in the administrative data. Other sources of data will be required to comprehensively monitor the primary management of cancer patients.