Evaluation of occupation and industry data collection in the NH State Cancer Registry (NHSCR)

NIOSH is charged with partnering with states to conduct occupational heatlh surveillance to identify trends and assist in setting priorities for prevention activities. This includes obtaining industry and occupation (I/O) from various data sources. Past study conclusions on the proportion of cancer deaths attributed to occupation have not been consistent; however, we do see a trend of increasing cancer incidence overall. The importance of occupational exposures in cancer etiology necessitates support for occupational cancer morbidity surveillance. While central cancer registries funded by the National Program of Cancer Registries are required to collect I/O information when available, it is well recognized that this data has many limitations. We will review medical records for I/O data and occupational history for patients diagnosed with cancer from January 2004 to December 2006. An expert coder will assign I/O codes according to the Bureau of Census coding system. We will evaluate the accuracy and completeness of I/O data reported to the central registry. It is our goal to increase accurate recording of I/O in medical records for NH cancer patients. The findings of this study will support the expansion of I/O data collection and the incorporation of I/O coding by central cancer registries. Cancer registry data may prove to be a useful tool for occupational cancer surveillance. Analysis of data collected from this study may be helpful in identifying occupational risk factors for cancer in New Hampshire.