Research & Data Process

Database of newly diagnosed cancers and deaths in Alberta, providing access to all cancer patient data from multiple sources in one place. 

Includes:

• Population-based cancer registry for all cancers diagnosed in Alberta.
• Standard Diagnosis Information (diagnosis date, multiple primaries).
• Tumor and stage information at time of diagnosis.
• Mortality data (follow-up from Vital Status).

Availability for diagnosis of breast cancer: 

• Diagnosis Date from January 1st, 2002 – December 30th, 2022.
• Follow-up data from April 12th, 2022 to November 14th, 2024.

• ARIA chemotherapy dataset: Type of systemic treatment, regimen, names of prescription, date of prescription or administration, and description of dose unit given. Systemic treatments include chemotherapy, hormonal therapy, immunotherapy and unspecified systemic treatment.
• Radiotherapy dataset: Type of radiotherapy treatment, regimen, names of prescription, date of prescription or administration, and description of dose unit given.
• Visit dataset: High and detailed level of classification of hospital visit type.

Medication Data

• Connect Care Admin dataset (Medication Administration data from CC): The date when an order of medication was placed, the date when medication was administered using an inpatient hospital setting.
• Connect Care Dispense dataset (Medication Dispense data from CC):  The date when an order of medication was placed and the date when medication was administered using a pharmacy setting.

Provides demographic, administrative, and clinical data from acute inpatient care and day surgeries, serving as a database primarily used for inpatient hospitalizations. 

Availability: Admit Date from April 2002 – March 2024.

Collects demographic, administrative, clinical and service-specific data. Is primarily used for emergency department (ED), urgent care, and same-day surgery visits. This database uses International Classification of Diseases (ICD) codes for diagnosis and Canadian Classification of Health Interventions (CCI) codes for procedures.

Diagnoses Identification:

• ICD-10-CA codes classify primary and secondary health conditions.
• Example: C50.9 for breast cancer (unspecified site).

Procedure Identification:

• CCI codes capture clinical interventions such as surgeries, imaging and therapies.
• Example: 1YM98 for a mastectomy.

Linking Care Episodes:

• Combining codes from both datasets provides a comprehensive picture of patient care, including inpatient stays, surgeries, and follow-up care inpatient and/or emergency settings.

Availability: Visit Date from April 2001 – March 2024.

Contains information on physician service utilization, patient encounters, and payment records submitted through the Alberta Health Care Insurance Plan (AHCIP). Billing codes are primarily used from the database to identify specific surgical procedures and complementary treatments that may not be fully captured by CCI codes (Canadian Classification of Health Intervention).

Includes:

Mastectomy Types:

• 97.12A/ 97.12B: Mastectomy without reconstruction.
• 97.21: Mastectomy with immediate reconstruction.

Breast Reconstruction Procedures:

• 97.43: Implant reconstruction
• 97.95: Tissue expander reconstruction.
• 98.51B: Flap/ autologous reconstruction.

Availability: April 2002- March 2024.

Contains detailed records of pharmaceutical dispensations from community-based pharmacies across the province. Provides data on prescribed medications, enabling the identification of treatment regimens. Primarily use the Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical codes (ATC) to identify drugs related to specific treatments. 

For example:

• Endocrine Therapy: ATC Code L02BA01 for Tamoxifen to track hormone therapy prescriptions.

Availability: January 1st, 2008 - 2024.

Records of deaths occurring within the province of Alberta.

Includes:

• Demographic information
• Date
• Location
• Cause of death
• Autopsy information

Availability: Vital Statistics - Death Registry: April 2002- October 2024.

Provides demographic and geographic information from basic medical and hospital care claims. Data is collected from all eligible residents in Alberta with Alberta Health Care Insurance Plan (AHCIP) coverage. The number of registrants can be used as a base for population counts.

Availability: April 2000- April 2024.