Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Evaluation Of African-American And White Racial Classification In A Surveillance, Epidemiology, And End Results Cancer Registry, Diva A. Patel, Alicia Knowles, Ann G. Schwartz, Kendra Schwartz

FMPHS Faculty Publications

Objectives: This study evaluated the validity of registry-reported race for individuals who participated in research studies conducted since 1980 through the Metropolitan Detroit Cancer Surveillance System (MDCSS), a Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Program registry.

Methods: 5329 individuals who self-identified as African American or White and were classified in the MDCSS registry as African American or White were included. Self-identified and registry-reported race were compared, and associations between demographics and racial misclassification were examined.

Results: Most self-identified African Americans and Whites were correctly classified (sensitivity= 98.5%, specificity=99.7%). Males were two times more likely to be misclassified than females [odds …

Childhood Cancer Among Arab Americans In Southeast Michigan, Hadi Sawaf, Adonis Lorenzana, George Dombi, Merlin Hamre, Kendra Schwartz

FMPHS Faculty Publications

Cancer is relatively rare among children, yet it remains an important public concern. Childhood cancer ranks second as a cause of death after accidents. Population-based data such as Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) program of the National Cancer Institute create an opportunity to study the effect of ethnic background on the incidence and mortality of cancer. Studies on migrants have been widely used to infer the relative importance of environmental factors versus inherited factors and have proved valuable in developing population-specific interventions. Unfortunately, information on cancer occurrence among Arab Americans is lacking because of incomplete reporting of nationality and …