Agreement of Iranian breast cancer data and relationships with measuring quality of care in a 5-year period (2006-2011).

OBJECTIVES To investigate data agreement of cancer registries and medical records as well as the quality of care and assess their relationship in a 5-year period from 2006 to 2011. METHODS The present cross-sectional, descriptive-analytical study was conducted on 443 cases summarized through census and using a checklist. Data agreement of Nemazi hospital-based cancer registry and the breast cancer prevention center was analyzed according to their corresponding medical records through adjusted and unadjusted Kappa. The process of care quality was also computed and the relationship with data agreement was investigated through chi-square test. RESULTS Agreement of surgery, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy data between Nemazi hospital-based cancer registry and medical records was 62.9%, 78.5%, and 81%, respectively, while the figures were 93.2%, 87.9%, and 90.8%, respectively, between breast cancer prevention center and medical records. Moreover, quality of mastectomy, lumpectomy, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy services assessed in Nemazi hospital-based cancer registry was 12.6%, 21.2%, 35.2%, and 15.1% different from the corresponding medical records. On the other hand, 7.4%, 1.4%, 22.5%, and 9.6% differences were observed between the quality of the above-mentioned services assessed in the breast cancer prevention center and the corresponding medical records. A significant relationship was found between data agreement and quality assessment. CONCLUSION Although the results showed good data agreement, more agreement regarding the cancer stage data elements and the type of the received treatment is required to better assess cancer care quality. Therefore, more structured medical records and stronger cancer registry systems are recommended.