Follow-Up & Survival Analysis Flashcards

Which survival analysis method accounts for patients who are lost to follow-up or have not yet experienced the event of interest?

Answer: Kaplan-Meier method

The Kaplan-Meier method uses censoring to account for patients lost to follow-up or still alive at the end of the study period.

In the SEER program, what is the standard follow-up interval used to calculate 5-year relative survival rates?

Answer: 5 years

SEER reports 5-year relative survival rates as the standard benchmark for comparing cancer survival across populations.

A patient is recorded as 'vital status unknown' during follow-up. How should this be handled in survival analysis?

Answer: Censor at last known contact date

Patients with unknown vital status are censored at the date of last known contact to preserve data integrity.

What does a relative survival ratio greater than 1.0 indicate?

Answer: Cancer patients are surviving longer than the general population

A relative survival ratio >1.0 suggests cancer patients are surviving longer than comparable individuals in the general population.

Which follow-up method involves contacting the patient's physician to determine current vital status?

Answer: Active follow-up

Active follow-up involves direct contact with physicians, patients, or family members to obtain current vital status.

When calculating survival time for a patient diagnosed on June 15 who died on September 3 of the same year, what is the survival duration in months?

Answer: 3 months

From June 15 to September 3 spans approximately 3 months (June 15 to July 15, July 15 to Aug 15, Aug 15 to Sept 3).

What is the primary purpose of death certificate linkage in cancer registry follow-up?

Answer: To passively update vital status for registered patients

Death certificate linkage is a passive follow-up method that matches registry records with state death files to update vital status.