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Table 2 Hierarchy of Source Documents

From: Malignancy validation in a United States registry of rheumatoid arthritis patients

Type of Document

Level of Confidence*

N, % Used**

Biopsy report

1

173 (57.1%)

Oncologist Note

1

58 (19.1%)

Radiation Oncologist Note

1

9 (2.3%)

Dermatologist note (skin cancers only)

1

6 (2%)

OB-GYN Note (for OB-GYN cancers only)

1

1 (0.3%)

Urologist Note (for GU cancers only)

1

2 (0.7%)

Admission note

2

2 (0.7%)

Discharge summary

2

5 (1.7%)

Rheumatologist Note

2

16 (5.3%)

Other Physician Note

2

28 (9.2%)

Pharmaceutical Company adverse event form

3

3 (1.0%)

  1. * For Level 1, sufficient independently to confirm a diagnosis of malignancy
  2. For level 2, if a date of diagnosis (month and year) on the adverse event form or in the note was also provided, and a histology was submitted, defined as a Probable malignancy. If either of that data was absent, defined as a Possible malignancy.
  3. For level 3, if tissue diagnosis included, defined as a Probable malignancy. If not, defined as a Possible malignancy.
  4. ** For cases with multiple source documents, only the document with the highest hierarchical value was used. 303 cases had submitted documents (Total N).