What is a consequence of incorrectly performing record consolidation?

Incorrectly performing record consolidation can lead to both overreporting and underreporting of incidence cases, which makes the choice of both overreporting and underreporting the most accurate.

When records are consolidated improperly, some cases may be counted more than once, leading to overreporting. For instance, if multiple records of the same patient’s diagnosis or treatment are not adequately merged, researchers and registrars may mistakenly consider them as separate cases. This scenario skews the data and inflates the apparent number of incidence cases.

Conversely, underreporting can occur if some cases are lost during the consolidation process. If a patient’s records are erroneously deemed duplicates or not identified during consolidation, those cases may be excluded from the overall count. As a result, this leads to an incomplete dataset that does not accurately reflect the true incidence of cases, resulting in underreporting.

In summary, the risks associated with improper record consolidation can yield a combination of both overreporting and underreporting, ultimately compromising the accuracy and reliability of cancer registries and the data they provide for public health decisions.