Patient—diagnosis date (cancer), DDMMYYYY

Identifying and definitional attributes
Metadata item type:	Data Element
Short name:	Date of diagnosis of cancer
METEOR identifier:	270061
Registration status:	Health, Superseded 07/12/2011
Definition:	The date when the cancer was first diagnosed (whether at its primary site or as a metastasis).
Context:	Patient administration system, cancer notification system, population cancer statistics, research.
Data Element Concept:	Patient—diagnosis date

Value domain attributes

Representational attributes

Representation class:

Date

Data type:

Date/Time

Format:

DDMMYYYY

Maximum character length:

Data element attributes

Collection and usage attributes

Guide for use:

Date of diagnosis must be:

>= date of birth

<= date of death

Diagnosis of cancer after death:

If the patient is first diagnosed with the cancer in an autopsy report the date of diagnosis is the date of death as stated on the patient's death certificate.

Incidental diagnosis of cancer:

If a patient is admitted for another condition (for example a broken leg or pregnancy), and a cancer is diagnosed incidentally then the date of diagnosis is the date the cancer was diagnostically determined, not the admission date.

Collection methods:

Reporting rules:

The date of diagnosis is the date of the pathology report, if any, that first confirmed the diagnosis of cancer. This date may be found attached to a letter of referral or a patient's medical record from another institution or hospital. If this date is unavailable, or if no pathological test was done, then the date may be determined from one of the sources listed in the following sequence:

Date of the consultation at, or admission to, the hospital, clinic or institution when the cancer was first diagnosed. Note: DO NOT use the admission date of the current admission if the patient had a prior diagnosis of this cancer.

Date of first diagnosis as stated by a recognised medical practitioner or dentist. Note: This date may be found attached to a letter of referral or a patient's medical record from an institution or hospital.

Date the patient states they were first diagnosed with cancer. Note: This may be the only date available in a few cases (for example, patient was first diagnosed in a foreign country).

If components of the date are not known, an estimate should be provided where possible with an estimated date flag to indicate that it is estimated. If an estimated date is not possible, a standard date of 15 June 1900 should be used with a flag to indicate the date is not known.