LI Course
CE Hours: 6 contact hours

Partnership: National Cancer Institute

Statement of Purpose and Institute Overview: The purpose of this learning institute is to provide introductory training in the use of the statistical software, SEER*Stat. SEER*Stat is a resource from the National Cancer Institute’s (NCI) Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Program that is used to analyze cancer surveillance data, providing information on cancer incidence, survival, prevalence, and multiple primary analyses in the US. NCI SEER serves as a platform for studies in the US and globally, addressing emerging issues in the field of cancer and cancer-related care. NCI SEER coordinates and collaborates with a number of organizations in cancer surveillance and related disciplines, nationally and internationally, setting standards for data collection, training, and collaborating in the analysis and reporting of cancer rates. The SEER*Stat software provides a convenient and intuitive mechanism for the analysis of SEER and other cancer-related databases. Researchers, clinicians, public health officials, legislators, policymakers, community groups, and the public can use these data to examine individual cancer records and to produce statistics for studying the impact of cancer on a population. Participants will be taught using a hands-on approach in which they will work through structured examples on individual PCs. The aim is to increase usage and understanding of SEER*Stat, where participants can calculate rates, frequencies, and use county attribute data. Participants will also be introduced to the Health Disparities Calculator which was created as an extension of SEER*Stat and may also be used with other population-based health data. The calculator can be used to analyze the extent and magnitude of the disparities between two or more disparity groups such as socioeconomic status, race/ethnicity and geographic areas. SEER*Stat experts will be available to assist with the in-class exercises and address any questions. After taking the basic course, participants may progress to the Day 2 Advanced SEER*Stat course.

Session Objectives: Demonstrate how to calculate disease frequencies and incidence rates, view database values and export results using the SEER*Stat software. Demonstrate how to stratify results based on cancer site, demographic information, and county attribute data, such as income or educational attainment and export the results for additional analyses in the Health Disparities Calculator. Define an analysis cohort.