Availability and utility of body mass index for population-based cancer surveillance

Objective To evaluate the availability of body height and weight data in the hospital medical record of cancer patients and discuss the utility of the findings to population-based cancer research and the surveillance of overweight and obesity in the United States. Methods Medical records were reviewed for up to three measures of height and weight for a random sample of 1,739 patients diagnosed (2001-2003) with one of the 12 types of cancer and reported to the population-based Greater Bay Area Cancer Registry of Northern California. Results About 84% of cancer patients had at least one value of height, 91% had at least one value of weight, and 83% had both values recorded in the medical record such that body mass index (BMI) could be computed. About 60% of height and weight values were recorded within 2 months of cancer diagnosis, with most values (71%) recorded after cancer diagnosis. The availability of BMI varied somewhat by race/ethnicity, cancer site, initial treatment, and hospital characteristics. Conclusions BMI may be sufficiently available to be included routinely in the population-based cancer registries, and, if so, would be useful for studies of cancer diagnoses and outcomes and permit nationwide surveillance of BMI in a large population-representative cohort of cancer patients.