Cancer recording in patients with and without type 2 diabetes in the Clinical Practice Research Datalink primary care data and linked hospital admission data: a cohort study

• Published in: BMJ open Vol. 8; no. 5; p. e020827
• Main Authors: Williams, Rachael, van Staa, Tjeerd-Pieter, Gallagher, Arlene M, Hammad, Tarek, Leufkens, Hubert G M, de Vries, Frank
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England BMJ Publishing Group LTD 01.05.2018; BMJ Publishing Group
• Subjects: Adult; Age Distribution; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Antidiabetics; Cancer; Clinical medicine; Cohort analysis; Cohort Studies; Databases, Factual; Diabetes; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 - complications; Electronic health records; Epidemiology; Female; Hospitalization; Hospitals; Humans; Insulin; Linked Data; Logistic Models; Male; Medical diagnosis; Medical Record Linkage; Middle Aged; Mortality; Multivariate Analysis; Neoplasms - epidemiology; Patient Admission - statistics & numerical data; Practice research; Primary care; Primary Health Care - statistics & numerical data; Product safety; Quality; Registration; Sex Distribution; Systematic review; United Kingdom - epidemiology; Validity; United Kingdom; United Kingdom > UK; England; primary care; cancer; type 2 diabetes; electronic health records; hospital admissions; concordance
• ISSN: 2044-6055; 2044-6055
• DOI: 10.1136/bmjopen-2017-020827

Objectives and settingConflicting results from studies using electronic health records to evaluate the associations between type 2 diabetes and cancer fuel concerns regarding potential biases. This study aimed to describe completeness of cancer recording in UK primary care data linked to hospital admissions records.DesignPatients aged 40+ years with insulin or oral antidiabetic prescriptions in Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD) primary care without type 1 diabetes were matched by age, sex and general practitioner practice to non-diabetics. Those eligible for linkage to Hospital Episode Statistics Admitted Patient Care (HES APC), and with follow-up during April 1997–December 2006 were included.Primary and secondary outcome measuresCancer recording and date of first record of cancer were compared. Characteristics of patients with cancer most likely to have the diagnosis recorded only in a single data source were assessed. Relative rates of cancer estimated from the two datasets were compared.Participants53 585 patients with type 2 diabetes matched to 47 435 patients without diabetes were included.ResultsOf all cancers (excluding non-melanoma skin cancer) recorded in CPRD, 83% were recorded in HES APC. 94% of cases in HES APC were recorded in CPRD. Concordance was lower when restricted to same-site cancer records, and was negatively associated with increasing age. Relative rates for cancer were similar in both datasets.ConclusionsGood concordance in cancer recording was found between CPRD and HES APC among type 2 diabetics and matched controls. Linked data may reduce misclassification and increase case ascertainment when analysis focuses on site-specific cancers.