OBJECTIVES This study aimed to estimate the completeness of cancer registration with Capture-recapture method. METHODS: The study was conducted in the population based cancer registry of Kwangju, Korea, for which there are three main sources of notification: reports by Korean Central Cancer Registry, reports by pathology data, and the others reports by radiology data, death certificates, etc. The defined cases in three sources were matched by 13 digits Resident Register Number. To derive an estimates, log-linear models were applicated. RESULTS: Overall completeness was estimated to be around 93%. There was some variation with age(consistently high levels below age group 60-74 years, a minimum of 88.6% above 75 years). Among the most common cancer sites, estimates of completeness were highest for thyroid cancer(97.1%), while lower estimates of completeness were derived for stomach cancer(92.3%), liver cancer(92.6%). CONCLUSIONS: Careful application of Capture-recapture method may provide an alternative to traditional approaches for estimating the completeness of cancer registration in Kwangju city.
OBJECTIVES : The purpose of this paper is to estimate the completeness of the Korean Medical Insurance Data in childhood asthma. METHODS : Capture-recapture method was used to estimate the prevalence of childhood asthma and case ascertainment rate(completeness) of Korean Medical Insurance Data using two source model, 'Korean Medical Insurance Committee Data (KMICD)' and 'Nationwide Study of Asthma and Allergies in Korean Children'. The asthma cases were restricted to those who were born from 1981 to 1989 and were identified by their Resident Register Number. Asthma cases in Korean Medical Insurance Data were defined as cases coded by ICD-9 493 and ICD-10 J45. In 'Nationwide Study of Asthma and Allergies in Korean Children', asthma cases were defined as the children who had been diagnosed asthma and had experienced symptoms of asthma during the past 12 months. The defined cases in two data sources were matched by 13 digits Resident Register Number. The numbers of matched patients in two data sources were 245 of 32,825 eligible total subjects. Chapman and Wittes' nearly unbiased estimation was used for capture-recapture analysis of two data sources. RESULTS : Observed prevalence rate of childhood asthma was 5.3% and estimated prevalence rate by capture-recapture analysis was 11.6%. The highest prevalence rate was observed in 6-7 age group and the older the rate decreased. The completeness (the proportion of cases ascertained by KMICD to the total observed cases by two data sources) was 20.6%, and ranged from 10.8% to 28.8% by area. CONCLUSIONS : Invalid diagnosis of cases might overestimate the prevalence of childhood asthma and might underestimate the completeness of Korean Medical Insurance Committee Data in this study