Loglinear Random Effect Models for Capture-Recapture Assessment of Completeness of Registration

The usefulness of a population-based cancer registry depends to a large extent on the completeness of registration, i.e. the degree to which reportable cases of cancer in the population of interest are actually detected and recorded in the registry (Wittes, 1974). Since most cancer registries use multiple data sources in their input process and since there are non standard procedures for assessing completeness, capture-recapture methods represent one valid alternative to other methods for estimating the quality of registration. The main idea is to mimic what happens in the estimation procedure of animal abundance, in which animals are caught several times and classified according to their presence on each occasion, with data sources standing for catches.