Methodological issues in a retrospective cancer incidence study

Details

• Personal Author:
  Bornemann Z ; Buchanich JM ; Esmen NA ; Hancock RP ; Kennedy KJ ; Lacey SE ; Lieberman FS ; Marsh GM ; Youk AO
• Description:
  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. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Aircraft Epidemiology Mortality Neoplasms Nervous System Nervous System Disorders Occupational Health Safety
• Keywords:
  Aircraft-engines Aircraft-parts-and-auxiliary-equipment Author Keywords: Central Nervous System Neoplasms Cancer Cancer-rates Central-nervous-system-disorders Cohort Studies Data Collection Epidemiologic Methods Incidence Mortality-data Mortality-rates Mortality-surveys Neoplasms Statistical-analysis Vital Statistics

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• ISSN:
  0002-9262
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Connecticut ; Illinois ; OSHA Region 1 ; OSHA Region 3 ; OSHA Region 5 ; Pennsylvania
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  112-119
• Volume:
  170
• Issue:
  1
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20045597
• Citation:
  Am J Epidemiol 2009 Jul; 170(1):112-119
• Contact Point Address:
  Dr. Jeanine M. Buchanich, Department of Biostatistics, Graduate School of Public Health, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15261
• Email:
  jeanine@pitt.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2009
• Performing Organization:
  University of Illinois at Chicago
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20050701
• Source Full Name:
  American Journal of Epidemiology
• End Date:
  20290630
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:1a33d6b9b35f76584106c56448c9ee76f346822eb07f01840a6958e9b387b5627865d15a376ec35864a980608166fce0e29095b36cce51846bf9bc9c01ee1124
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/200958/cdc_200958_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 87.44 KB ]