Follow-Up & Survival Analysis Flashcards
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Read the first 7 Follow-Up & Survival Analysis flashcards as text
Which statistical test is most commonly used to compare Kaplan-Meier survival curves between two groups?
Answer: Log-rank test
The log-rank test (Mantel-Cox test) compares the overall survival experience between groups across all time points.
A patient diagnosed with breast cancer moves to another state and cannot be located. The last known contact date was 2 years after diagnosis. In survival analysis, this patient is:
Answer: Censored at 2 years post-diagnosis
Lost-to-follow-up patients are censored at their last known contact date, preserving the time they were known to be alive.
Observed survival differs from relative survival in that observed survival:
Answer: Counts all deaths regardless of cause
Observed (or overall) survival counts all deaths from any cause, while relative survival compares to expected mortality in a matched population.
When a cancer registry performs a casefinding sweep of death certificates, what is the primary goal related to follow-up?
Answer: Update vital status of existing registry cases to deceased
Death certificate sweeps allow registries to update the vital status of previously registered patients who have since died.
In survival analysis, what is a 'censored observation'?
Answer: A patient whose outcome is unknown or who left the study before the event occurred
A censored observation is one where the exact event time is unknown because the patient was lost to follow-up, withdrew, or the study ended before the event.
For follow-up purposes, which action should a tumor registrar take first when a patient's address is outdated?
Answer: Search available sources such as NCOALink, obituaries, and state vital records
Registrars should exhaust multiple tracing sources including NCOA, DMF, state death records, and internet searches before classifying a case as lost.
Which NAACCR data item captures the patient's vital status at the time of last follow-up contact?
Answer: Item #1750 – Vital Status
NAACCR Item #1750 (Vital Status) records whether the patient is alive or dead at the time of last known contact.
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