Skip Navigation


American Journal of Epidemiology Advance Access originally published online on May 4, 2009
American Journal of Epidemiology 2009 170(1):112-119; doi:10.1093/aje/kwp091
This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
170/1/112    most recent
kwp091v1
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Disclaimer
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Buchanich, J. M.
Right arrow Articles by Lieberman, F. S.
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Buchanich, J. M.
Right arrow Articles by Lieberman, F. S.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

American Journal of Epidemiology © The Author 2009. Published by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org.

PRACTICE OF EPIDEMIOLOGY

Methodological Issues in a Retrospective Cancer Incidence Study

Jeanine M. Buchanich, Ada O. Youk, Gary M. Marsh, Zb Bornemann, Steven E. Lacey, Kathleen J. Kennedy, Roger P. Hancock, Nurtan A. Esmen and Frank S. Lieberman

Correspondence to Dr. Jeanine M. Buchanich, Department of Biostatistics, Graduate School of Public Health, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15261 (e-mail: jeanine{at}pitt.edu).

Received for publication October 9, 2008. Accepted for publication March 18, 2009.

The authors traced incidence of central nervous system cancer in a large occupational cohort of jet engine manufacturing workers from 1976 to 2004 in the 24 US states that comprised 95% of the cohort deaths. The cohort of approximately 224,000 employees was matched with cancer registry data; all central nervous system cancer matches were requested with their diagnostic data. This paper highlights the obstacles encountered while conducting this retrospective cancer incidence study. The authors spent approximately 700 hours completing applications and obtaining the cohort matches. Approximately 70% of the cases were identified in the state in which the facility of interest is located. In addition to the large amount of time involved, identified issues include complicated approval processes, high costs, temporal differences among the registries, and registry agency difficulty in performing the matching. Several states do not allow individual-level data to be used for research purposes. Researchers can gain important cancer incidence information by matching retrospective cohorts to multiple state cancer registries. However, they should carefully weigh the time and costs required and plan accordingly. Despite some serious obstacles, many of which are potentially resolvable, cancer incidence studies of retrospective cohorts using multiple cancer registries are feasible.

central nervous system neoplasms; cohort studies; data collection; epidemiologic methods; incidence; neoplasms; vital statistics

Abbreviations: CNS, central nervous system; HIPAA, Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act; IRB, institutional review board; SEER, Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?




Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.