Regional Differences and Tribal Use of American Indian/Alaska Native Cancer Data in the Pacific Northwest

In the Pacific Northwest, cancer is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality for American Indians and Alaska Natives (AI/AN). Misclassification of AI/AN race in state cancer registries causes cancer burden to be underestimated. Furthermore, local-level data are rarely available to individual tribe...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of cancer education 2012-04, Vol.27 (Suppl 1), p.73-79
Main Authors: Hoopes, Megan J., Petersen, Paneen, Vinson, Eric, Lopez, Kerri
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
Adult
Aged
Aged, 80 and over
Alaska Natives
Attrition (Research Studies)
Biomedical and Life Sciences
Biomedicine
Cancer
Cancer Research
Coding
Confidence Intervals
Data analysis
Data Collection
Death
Delivery Systems
Early Detection of Cancer
Ethnic Groups
Female
Geography
Health Programs
Health Services
Humans
Idaho - epidemiology
Indians, North American - statistics & numerical data
Inuits - statistics & numerical data
Male
Middle Aged
Minority Health - statistics & numerical data
Native North Americans
Neoplasms - epidemiology
Neoplasms - ethnology
Northwestern United States - epidemiology
Oregon - epidemiology
Pharmacology/Toxicology
Program Development
Public Health
Quality Control
Race
Regionalism
Registries - statistics & numerical data
Risk
Tribes
United States - epidemiology
United States Indian Health Service
Urban Areas
Washington - epidemiology
Young Adult
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Summary:In the Pacific Northwest, cancer is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality for American Indians and Alaska Natives (AI/AN). Misclassification of AI/AN race in state cancer registries causes cancer burden to be underestimated. Furthermore, local-level data are rarely available to individual tribes for use in health assessment and program planning. We corrected race coding in the cancer registries of Idaho, Oregon, and Washington using probabilistic record linkage to a file derived from patient registration records from Indian Health Service and a large urban clinic. We calculated cancer incidence and mortality measures by state, comparing AI/AN to non-Hispanic White (NHW) race. Record linkages identified a high prevalence of misclassified race. Differences in AI/AN cancer patterns were identified across the three state region. Compared to NHW, AI/AN experienced disproportionate late stage rates of some screen-detectable cancers. The correct classification of race is a crucial factor in cancer surveillance and can reveal regional differences even within a relatively small area. The availability of local-level cancer data can help inform tribes in appropriate intervention efforts.
ISSN:0885-8195
1543-0154
DOI:10.1007/s13187-012-0325-4