THE EVALUATION OF THE DATA COLLECTION PROCESS FOR A MULTICENTER, POPULATION-BASED, CASE-CONTROL DESIGN

This report details the methods the authors used to conduct the Cancer and Steroid Hormone Study, a multicenter, population-based, case-control study of oral contraceptive use in relation to breast, endometrial, and ovarian cancer diagnosed during 1980–1982. The authors have documented their methods and rationale, and the results of their data collection efforts as a practical guide for the planning and conduct of large case-control studies. They observed the following: 1) the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results program is a useful epidemiologic resource for identifying cases from which to evaluate risk factors for cancer in the United States; 2) random digit dialing is an effective and efficient method for screening for eligible controls for a population-based study; 3) with the cooperation of community pathologists, histologic specimen slides can be retrieved and reviewed for diagnostic confirmation and histologic subclassification of cancer for greater than 95% of the cases interviewed; and 4) data reported during personal interviews of study participants can be validated by reviewing medical records for more than 75% of study participants who reported medical events that occurred during the 10 years before the beginning of the study.