The disease index is the primary casefinding source used by central registries to identify incident cases.

• A. True
• B. False
• C. Not sure
• D. Often

Answer: (B)

Pathology reports provide histologic confirmation and are the most reliable way to identify new cancer cases, so they serve as the main source for case finding in central registries. The disease index is an administrative listing used for billing and chart organization; it may help locate records but it doesn’t reliably capture all incident cases and is not the primary source. Central registries use pathology reports as the cornerstone and supplement with other sources (hospital discharge data, physician notes, radiology, treatment records, death certificates) to ensure complete ascertainment. So the statement is not correct.