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Misclassification of race/ethnicity in a Population-based Cancer Registry (United States)

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Abstract

Cancer registry data on race/ethnicity are vital for understanding cancer patterns in population subgroups, as they inform public health policies for allocating resources and form the bases of etiologic hypotheses. However, accuracy of cancer registry data on race/ethnicity has not been systematically evaluated. By comparing race/ethnicity in the Greater Bay Area Cancer Registry to self-reported race/ethnicity for patients from 14 racial/ethnic groups, we determined the accuracy of this variable and the patient and hospital characteristics associated with disagreement. The extent of misclassification (measured by sensitivity and predictive value positive (PV+)) varied across racial/ethnic groups (total n=11,676). Sensitivities and PV+’s were high (exceeding 90%) for non-Hispanic Whites and Blacks, moderate for Hispanics and some Asian subgroups (70–90%), and very low for American Indians (<20%). Overall, registry and interview race/ethnicity disagreed for 11% of the sample. In a multivariate model, disagreement was associated with non-White race/ethnicity, younger age, being married, being foreign-born but preferring to speak English, and diagnosis in a large hospital. Improving data quality for race/ethnicity will be most effectively attempted at the reporting source. We advocate a concerted effort to systematize collection of these patient data across all facilities, which may be more feasible given electronic medical admissions forms.

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Acknowledgments

We thank the following investigators for contributing data: Drs. Joan Bloom, Sally Glaser, Elizabeth Holly, Pamela Horn-Ross, Karla Kerlikowske, Esther John, Marion Lee, Marilyn Schlitz, Virginia Ernster, Dee West, Alice Whittemore, and Margaret Wrensch. We also thank Rita Leung, Susan Stewart, Sarah Shema, and David Purdie for their contributions. Cancer incidence data were collected by the Northern California Cancer Center under contract N01-CN-65107 with the National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, and with support of the California Cancer Registry, a project of the Cancer Surveillance Section, California Department of Health Services, under subcontract 1000891 with the Public Health Institute. Data collection for Dr. Kerlikowske’s studies was supported by the NCI-funded Breast Cancer Surveillance Consortium co-operative agreement (U01CA63740), NCI-funded UCSF Breast Cancer SPORE (P50 CA58207), and the California Breast Cancer Research Program (2RB-0197). The content of this publication does not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the US Department of Health and Human Services or the California Department of Health Services, nor does mention of trade names, commercial products, or organizations imply endorsement by the US Government or state of California.

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  1. Northern California Cancer Center, 2201 Walnut Avenue, Suite 300, Fremont, CA, 94538, USA

    Scarlett L. Gomez & Sally L. Glaser

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  1. Scarlett L. Gomez
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Correspondence to Scarlett L. Gomez.

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Gomez, S.L., Glaser, S.L. Misclassification of race/ethnicity in a Population-based Cancer Registry (United States). Cancer Causes Control 17, 771–781 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10552-006-0013-y

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