Using Multivariate Capture-Recapture Techniques and Statewide Hospital Discharge Data to Assess the Validity of a Cancer Registry for Epidemiologic Use

Abstract   Background: Cancer surveillance is essential for assessing patterns of cancer. State cancer registries do not capture all cases. We used a statewide hospital discharge file to estimate the capture rate and determine biases in capture by a state cancer registry. Methods: We merged the Virginia hospital discharge file and cancer registry for 1995, then used multivariate two- source capture-recapture techniques to control for heterogeneity and more accurately estimate the number and characteristics of missing breast, lung, colorectal and prostate cancer cases.