California Cancer Reporting System Standards Volume I: Abstracting and Coding Procedures for Hospitals
Document the patient’s weight at diagnosis in this field. This data item is required for cases diagnosed January 1, 2011 and forward.
Entered as 3 digit numbers and measured in pounds (note that 1 kg = 2.2 pounds).
Example: Patient is documented as 195. Enter 195 into this field.
Code “999” for unknown weight.
All pound values should be rounded to the nearest whole number; values with decimal place x.5 and greater should be rounded up (e.g., 155.5 pounds would be 156 pounds).
Patients with a weight of less than 100 pounds should be recorded with a leading 0.
Exhaust all potential sources for weight before using code “999” (“unknown”).
Leaving this field blank is not permitted and code “999” should be used to reflect unknown weight. The CDC will use the volume of cases coded to “999” to help determine the availability of information related to weight in the medical record.
Note: You can use the following on-line conversion calculator:
http://manuelsweb.com/kg_lbs.htm
If you have trouble opening this link from this file, copy and paste the address into your browser.
Different tumors for the same patient may have different values.
The patient’s weight should be collected from source records once for each cancer.
Weight should be taken from the Nursing Interview Guide, Flow Chart, or Vital Stats section from the patient’s hospital medical record or physician office record.
The weight entered should be that listed on the date of diagnosis.
If no weight was listed on the date of diagnosis, please use the weight recorded on the date closest to the date of diagnosis and before treatment was started.