A novel method of assessing completeness of tumor registration.

A random sampling method of measuring the completeness of registration of cancer patients was tested at a university referral hospital. The target population consisted of all inpatients and nonprivate outpatients with in situ or invasive malignancies. The medical records of a random sample of all hospital records active in the last five years were reviewed to determine their reportability and inclusion in the tumor registry (Method A). Traditional casefinding assessment methods were also employed by conducting a complete review of four commonly used hospital sources for a short time period (Method B). The primary purpose of the study was methodologic; namely, to test the feasibility of Method A and to characterize it relative to the more traditional Method B. The estimated missed case rates using Methods A and B (3% and 5%, respectively) are not directly comparable because not all outpatient information is recorded in the medical record. It is concluded that as a means of completeness assessment, Method A can be feasible, cost effective, and useful in other institutions provided certain conditions are met: (1) an appropriate random sample of the target population can be obtained; (2) all relevant information is available in a unit medical record; (3) the reviewer is fully aware of the reportability criteria.