The Capture-Recapture Method for Estimation of Cancer Registry Completeness: A Useful Tool?

Abstract

A major drawback of the capture-recapture method is its inability to estimate the number of cases that are not routinely notified to the registry by one or both notification sources. Another limitation is the lack of statistical power to detect incompleteness in an early stage. It is concluded that the capture-recapture method is not useful for everyday surveillance of completeness in cancer registration.