Rationale, Procedures, and Response Rates for a Pilot Study to Sample Cancer Survivors for NCI's Health Information National Trends Survey: HINTS-SEER 2021

J Health Commun. 2024 Feb;29(2):119-130. doi: 10.1080/10810730.2023.2290550. Epub 2024 Jan 17.

Abstract

The National Cancer Institute's (NCI) Health Information National Trends Survey (HINTS) is a nationally representative survey of U.S. adults in which 12-17% of respondents report a cancer history. To increase representation from adult cancer survivors, in 2021, NCI sampled survivors from three Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) program cancer registries: Iowa, New Mexico, and the Greater Bay Area. Sampling frames were stratified by time since diagnosis and race/ethnicity, with nonmalignant tumors and non-melanoma skin cancers excluded. Participants completed a self-administered postal questionnaire. The overall response rate for HINTS-SEER (N = 1,234) was 12.6%; a non-response bias analysis indicated few demographic differences between respondents and the pool of sampled patients in each registry. Most of the sample was 10+ years since diagnosis (n = 722; 60.2%); 392 respondents were 5 to < 10 years since diagnosis (29.6%); and 120 were < 5 years since diagnosis (10.2%). Common cancers included male reproductive (n = 304; 24.6%), female breast (n = 284; 23.0%), melanoma (n = 119; 9.6%), and gastrointestinal (n = 106; 8.6%). Tumors were mostly localized (67.8%; n = 833), with 22.4% (n = 282) regional, 6.2% (n = 72) distant, and 3.7% (n = 47) unknown. HINTS-SEER data are available by request and may be used for secondary analyses to examine a range of social, behavioral, and healthcare outcomes among cancer survivors.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Cancer Survivors*
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Incidence
  • Male
  • National Cancer Institute (U.S.)
  • Neoplasms* / therapy
  • Pilot Projects
  • Registries
  • Surveys and Questionnaires
  • United States / epidemiology