Abstract
To develop a linkage algorithm to match anonymous death records of cancer of the larynx (ICD-10 C32X), retrieved from the Mortality Information System (SIM) and the Hospital Information System of the Brazilian Unified National Health System (SIH-SUS) in Brazil. Death records containing ICD-10 C32X codes were retrieved from SIM and SIH-SUS, limited to individuals aged 30 years and over, between 2002 and 2012, in the state of São Paulo. The databases were linked using a unique key identifier developed with sociodemographic data shared by both systems. Linkage performance was ascertained by applying the same procedure to similar non-anonymous databases. True pairs were those having the same identification variables. A total of 14,311 eligible death records were found. Most records, 10,674 (74.6%), were exclusive to SIM. Only 1,853 (12.9%) deaths were registered in both systems, representing true pairs. A total of 1,784 (12.5%) cases of laryngeal cancer in the SIH-SUS database were tracked in SIM with different causes of death. The linkage failed to match 167 (9.4%) records due to inconsistencies in the key identifier. The authors found that linking anonymous data from mortality and hospital records is a feasible measure to track missing records and may improve cancer statistics.
Highlights
Cancer of the larynx (CL) accounts for 1% of all new cases and deaths due to cancer worldwide[1]
As part of an effort to track cases of typical or associated asbestos-related diseases to obtain more accurate estimates of its burden in Brazil, this study aims at assessing the feasibility and performance of anonymous linkage of CL records from two health information systems: Sistema de Informação de Mortalidade (SIM) and SIH-SUS
Death records were retrieved from SIM, a universal vital statistics database, and from SIH-SUS, an administrative hospital information system of the Brazilian Unified National Health System, which only covers state-owned or publicly funded hospitals
Summary
Cancer of the larynx (CL) accounts for 1% of all new cases and deaths due to cancer worldwide[1]. In 2018, 177,422 new cases and 94,771 deaths caused by CL were reported. In Brazil, this is the 8th most common type of cancer among men, with 6,390 new cases in 20182. Work-related cancers are commonly-reported occupational diseases, but they remain underreported, in low and middle income countries[8]. An important step in gathering improved number of records is to recover registered cases from distinct sources. Considering that larynx malignancies usually require hospital treatment, administrative information systems could be taken as an additional data source to improve case assessment
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