SSA: Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Birthplace Data Linkage

National Cancer Institute, Frederick MD

Investigators

Abstract

This agreement establishes the terms and conditions governing the arrangement between the Social Security Administration (SSA) and the National Institutes of Health, National Cancer Institute (NCI), under which SSA will match NCI?s records to SSA?s records and disclose individual level data (the state and city for individuals born within the United States and the country for individuals born outside the United States) to NCI for statistical and research purposes only. NCI will use the data to generate national statistics for monitoring immigration disparities in cancer in the United States. SSA has determined that this research activity will increase knowledge about Social Security programs and the research is of importance to SSA. SSA Trustees use a cause specific method of forecasting mortality, and NCI research can potentially help inform that forecast. Immigration status has increasingly been shown to be strongly predictive of cancer health outcomes. However, population-based research is hampered by a lack of reliable data on birthplace, an indicator of migrant status. Birthplace data previously collected by NCI?s Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) program had a disproportionally high rate of missing data for patients who are alive. This creates a biased analysis of survival and incidence trends by immigration status. Because of this, and other system limitations, SEER decided to remove birthplace data from the research database. The new data linkage between SSA and NCI will improve its quality of cancer survival and incidence trend data.