Data quality at population-based cancer registries in Colombia Calidad de los datos en los registros de cáncer de base poblacional en Colombia

Introduction. Population-based cancer registries are aimed to provide information of vital importance in planning, prevention and cancer management. Information generated by the registries must be comprehensive, valid and comparable. Therefore, it is recommended to make regular quality assessments. Objective. To describe the quality of cancer incidence data at four population-based cancer registries in Colombia for cancer incidence estimations in Colombia. Material and methods. Data collected at population-based cancer registries of Bucaramanga, Cali, Pasto, and Manizales, was included. Completeness was assessed through the graphic description of mortality incidence ratios and their relation to the survival. Validity was studied through the description of morphologically verified cases, cases identified from death certificates only, and the internal consistency of the data. Results. There was a global under-coverage of cancer registration at Bucaramanga and Manizales, while a more specific under-coverage for certain localizations was observed in Cali and Pasto. Validity analyses established a low use of death certificates as a source of information and some inconsistencies among valid basis of diagnosis and morphology. Conclusions. In Colombia, the data quality at population-based cancer registries can be further improved by considering the use of additional sources of information such as death certificates, and the use of specialized software for data capture and automatic validation of internal consistency. Mortality certification must be improved in areas where operating a population-based cancer registry. Introducción. La información de los registros poblacionales de cáncer resulta de vital importancia en la planeación, prevención y manejo del cáncer. La información generada por los registros debe ser exhaustiva, válida y comparable por lo que se recomienda hacer evaluaciones periódicas de calidad. Objetivo. Evaluar algunos aspectos relacionados con la exhaustividad y la validez de la información recolectada por los registros poblacionales de cáncer en Colombia para estimar las cifras de cáncer en Colombia. Materiales y métodos. Se evaluó la información de los registros poblacionales de Bucaramanga, Cali, Pasto y Manizales. La exhaustividad se analizó a través de las razones de mortalidad incidencia y su relación con la supervivencia. La validez se estableció con la descripción de los casos verificados morfológicamente y los registrados en certificados de defunción. Finalmente, se describieron las inconsistencias generadas. Resultados. El análisis d