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. 2015 Jan 12;105(2):107-9.
doi: 10.7196/samj.8858.

South African National Cancer Registry: Effect of withheld data from private health systems on cancer incidence estimates

E Singh  1 , J M Underwood, C Nattey, C Babb, M Sengayi, P Kellett
Affiliations

South African National Cancer Registry: Effect of withheld data from private health systems on cancer incidence estimates

E Singh et al. S Afr Med J. .

Abstract

Background: The National Cancer Registry (NCR) was established as a pathology-based cancer reporting system. From 2005 to 2007, private health laboratories withheld cancer reports owing to concerns regarding voluntary sharing of patient data.

Objectives: To estimate the impact of under-reported cancer data from private health laboratories.

Methods: A linear regression analysis was conducted to project expected cancer cases for 2005-2007. Differences between actual and projected figures were calculated to estimate percentage under-reporting.

Results: The projected NCR case total varied from 53,407 (3.8% net increase from actual cases reported) in 2005 to 54,823 (3.7% net increase) in 2007. The projected number of reported cases from private laboratories in 2005 was 26,359 (19.7% net increase from actual cases reported), 27,012 (18.8% net increase) in 2006 and 27,666 (28.4% net increase) in 2007.

Conclusion: While private healthcare reporting decreased by 28% from 2005 to 2007, this represented a minimal impact on overall cancer reporting (net decrease of <4%).

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Conflict of interest statement

Authorship. All authors have read and approved the manuscript, and there are no financial disclosures, conflicts of interests and/or acknowledgements necessary. The findings and conclusions in this report are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official position of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Actual and projected case reporting from private laboratories and to the NCR, 1995 – 2007.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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