Address at Diag 1

Field Length: 40

Address at Diagnosis--Number and Street is the patient’s street address including the number at the time of diagnosis. This data item is collected by SEER registries for identification and matching purposes; it is not submitted to NCI SEER.

Coding Instructions

1. Record the number and street address or the rural mailing address of the patient’s usual residence when the tumor was diagnosed

2. Record the physical number and street address of the patient at diagnosis. If the patient also has a Post Office (PO) Box address, record the PO Box address in Address at Diagnosis--Supplemental.

3. Spell out the address fully with standardized use of abbreviations and punctuation per U.S. Postal Service (USPS) postal addressing standards. The USPS Postal Addressing Standards, Publication 28, October 2023, can be found on the Internet at http://pe.usps.gov/cpim/ftp/pubs/pub28/pub28.pdf

4. The use of capital letters is preferred by the USPS; use recognized USPS standardized abbreviations. Do not use punctuation unless absolutely necessary to clarify an address; leave space between numbers and words.
   Example: 103 FIRST AVE SW APT 102

5. Limit abbreviations to those recognized by the Postal Service standard abbreviations. They include, but are not limited to: AVE (avenue), BLVD (boulevard), CIR (circle), CT (court), DR (drive) PLZ (plaza), PARK (park), PKWY (parkway), RD (road), SQ (square), ST (street), APT (apartment), BLDG (building), FL (floor), STE (suite), UNIT (unit), RM (room), DEPT (department), N (north), NE (northeast), NW (northwest), S (south), SE (southeast), SW (southwest), E (east, W (west). A complete list of recognized street abbreviations is provided in Appendix C of USPS Publication 28.

6. Punctuation is normally limited to periods (for example, 39.2 RD), slashes for fractional addresses (101 1/2 MAIN ST), and hyphens when a hyphen carries meaning (289-01 MONTGOMERY AVE). Use of the pound sign (#) to designate address units should be avoided whenever possible. The referred notation is a follows: 102 MAIN ST APT 101. If a pound sign is used, there must be a space between the pound sign and the secondary number (425 FLOWER BLVD # 72).

7. If the patient has multiple tumors, the address may be different for different primaries

8. Do not update this data item if the patient’s address changes

Special Circumstances

1. Enter UNKNOWN when the patient’s street address at diagnosis is unknown

2. More than one Residence: Code residence where patient spends majority of time.  If usual residence is not known, code residence the patient specifies at time of diagnosis.

   • Example: Patient is a snow bird and lives in Kentucky 8 months of the year and lives is Florida 4 months of the year.  Use the Kentucky street address as address at diagnosis.

3. Temporary Residents: Code the usual residence rather than temporary address for:

   • Migrant workers

   • Educators on temporary assignment

   • Military personnel on temporary duty

   • Boarding school students (below college level)

   • Persons temporary residing with family while receiving cancer treatment

4. Code residency where student is living (example: dorm) for college students and exchange students.

5. Code address of institution for persons who are:

   • Incarcerated

     • Enter the physical street address of the correctional facility as the address at diagnosis. When necessary, look up the facility to verify its correct physical location

     • Do not use an insurance billing address, administrative address, or P.O. Box as the patient’s residence at diagnosis.

     • When the correctional facility cannot be confirmed from the medical record, use the following resources:

       • Kentucky Online Offender Lookup: http://kool.corrections.ky.gov/

       • Federal Bureau of Prisons Inmate Locator: https://www.bop.gov/inmateloc/

   • Residents in a nursing, convalescent, and rest homes

   • Long term residents of other hospitals such as Veterans hospital

6. Armed Forces and on Maritime Ships (including Merchant Marine)

   • Code address of military instillation or surrounding community

This field is automatically filled in with the address entered in Item 10060 (Current Address) when the case is initially entered in CPDMS.net  Note that if the patient has multiple tumors, the address may be different for subsequent primaries.

Always verify the address at diagnosis for every case AND primary. Although pathology reports may contain addresses that can be automatically populated into CPDMS, verification is essential to ensure accurate cancer reporting and geocoding.

Description:

The address at diagnosis identifies where the patient resided when the cancer was first diagnosed—not where the patient currently lives or where treatment was received. An accurate and verified address supports several critical cancer surveillance functions:

• Correct state and county assignment: Cancer cases are reported based on the patient’s residence at diagnosis. This ensures that each case is included in the appropriate population-based registry and geographic statistics.

• Accurate geocoding: A complete and verified address enables the registry to assign precise geographic coordinates and census-based characteristics, including census tract, rural–urban classification, and neighborhood demographics.

• Reliable incidence rates: Cancer incidence rates are calculated using the number of cases occurring within a defined population. An incorrect address may place a case in the wrong county, state, or census tract, resulting in inaccurate local cancer incidence rates.

• Identification of disparities and potential cancer clusters: Accurate geographic information helps researchers and public health officials evaluate variations in cancer burden by location, socioeconomic conditions, environmental exposures, race and ethnicity, and access to healthcare.

• Community planning and resource allocation: Verified addresses help identify communities that may benefit from additional screening programs, prevention initiatives, treatment services, transportation assistance, and other public health resources.