Self-report by elderly breast cancer patients was an acceptable alternative to surveillance, epidemiology, and end results (SEER) abstract data.
OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this study was to compare breast cancer patients' self-report and surveillance, epidemiology, and end results (SEER) abstract data regarding type of treatment received (radiation, chemotherapy, and hormonal therapies).


METHODS
Patients 65 years of age or older diagnosed during 1999-2001 with stage I-II breast cancer and treated with conserving surgery were identified from the Iowa SEER registry; 307 (41% of those eligible) completed telephone interviews. SEER-registry abstract data also were obtained.


RESULTS
Agreement between self-reports and SEER data varied by type of treatment, with almost perfect agreement for chemotherapy (kappa = 0.93) and moderate to substantial agreement for ever use of hormonal therapy (kappa = 0.61), receipt of radiation therapy (kappa = 0.60), and current use of hormonal therapy (kappa = 0.54). If the SEER data are assumed to be the "gold standard," the sensitivity was generally high (>87%) for all types of treatment. Specificity varied according to type of treatment: highest for chemotherapy (98.4%) and lowest for radiation therapy (49.0%). Predictive values positive and negative were above 75% across type of treatment.


CONCLUSIONS
Using self-reported data was an acceptable alternative to reviewing medical records for documenting some types of breast cancer treatment.
Schootman
Mario
M
Washington University School of Medicine, Department of Medicine, Division of Health Behavior Research, Saint Louis, MO 63108, USA. mschootm@im.wustl.edu
Jeffe
Donna B
DB
West
Michele M
MM
Aft
Rebecca
R
D000368:Aged; D001325:Autobiographies as Topic; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy*; D003625:Data Collection / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008499:Medical Records; D008568:Memory; D018426:SEER Program