CTR Follow-Up & Data Management 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A cancer registrar is auditing data and finds that 12% of cases have no follow-up documented for over 24 months. Which corrective action is most appropriate?
- Delete the cases from the registry
- Flag them as 'lost to follow-up' immediately
- Initiate an active tracing protocol using available contact and database resources (Correct answer)
- Recode them as deceased based on length of inactivity
Correct answer: Initiate an active tracing protocol using available contact and database resources
When cases lack recent follow-up, the registrar should initiate active tracing before assigning any vital status code.
Question 2: Under STORE (Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results) guidelines, which event triggers an update to a patient's follow-up record?
- Any new primary cancer diagnosis (Correct answer)
- An administrative billing code change only
- A routine pharmacy refill with no clinical note
- A change in the treating facility's accreditation status
Correct answer: Any new primary cancer diagnosis
A new primary cancer diagnosis requires an update to the follow-up record, and a new abstract may also be required.
Question 3: When a registry uses record linkage with state vital statistics files to update vital status, this process is an example of:
- Active follow-up
- Passive follow-up (Correct answer)
- Probability-based casefinding
- Inter-registry data exchange
Correct answer: Passive follow-up
Linking registry records with vital statistics files to update vital status without direct patient contact is the definition of passive follow-up.
Question 4: A registrar discovers two abstracts in the database for the same patient with different medical record numbers. What is this situation called?
- Duplicate record (Correct answer)
- Over-reporting error
- Benign data collision
- Registry fragmentation
Correct answer: Duplicate record
Two records for the same patient are called duplicates, and merging or deduplicating them is essential for data integrity.
Question 5: Which best describes the purpose of the 'Date of Death' field in a tumor registry abstract?
- Records when the death certificate was issued
- Documents the date the registry was notified of the death
- Captures the actual date the patient died for survival analysis (Correct answer)
- Indicates when the case was closed in the registry
Correct answer: Captures the actual date the patient died for survival analysis
Date of death is used in survival calculations and must reflect the actual date the patient died, not administrative dates.
Question 6: A hospital cancer registry wants to improve its follow-up rate. Which resource would MOST effectively supplement physician office contacts?
- Insurance billing records only
- State cancer registry linkages and the National Death Index (Correct answer)
- Pharmacy benefit manager data
- Credit bureau records
Correct answer: State cancer registry linkages and the National Death Index
State cancer registry linkages and NDI are the most authoritative and widely used supplemental resources for determining vital status.
Question 7: In the context of cancer registry data management, 'edit checks' primarily serve to:
- Authorize access to the registry database
- Detect and flag inconsistent or out-of-range data values (Correct answer)
- Generate follow-up letters to patients
- Calculate survival statistics automatically
Correct answer: Detect and flag inconsistent or out-of-range data values
Edit checks are automated rules that identify data entries that are logically inconsistent, missing, or outside acceptable value ranges.
CTR Follow-Up & Data Management 3
A cancer registrar is auditing data and finds that 12% of cases have no follow-up documented for over 24 months.
Which corrective action is most appropriate?