UICC World Cancer Congress 2006

Objectives: All National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Programs submit surveillance data on women screened to CDC semiannually. These data, called Minimum Data Elements (MDEs), are a set of standardized data elements reflecting screening, diagnostic and treatment information on women served through the program. The MDEs provide valuable information for monitoring and assessing program performance, including data that allows for assuring the provision of complete and timely service for women screened. Although NBCCEDP Programs employ data quality systems to monitor program services, a comprehensive evaluation of the validity of the national MDE data has not been conducted. Consequently, the purpose of the Validation Project is to assess the correlation between data maintained in CDC's national MDE database and patient medical records.

Methods: During the project, a statistically viable sample of records for breast and cervical cancer screenings that occurred after 1996 will be selected from six Programs. For the selected records, data in CDC's national MDE database will be compared to data abstracted directly from the original medical record. Data collection will be completed in 2006.

Results: A final report will include estimates of concordance rates for screening and diagnostic variables as well as a qualitative assessment of the MDE data. Results from this project will inform decisions on how program data are collected and used in the future.