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Validation of a COPD diagnosis from the Swedish Inpatient Registry.

Inghammar, Malin LU ; Engström, Gunnar LU ; Löfdahl, Claes-Göran LU and Egesten, Arne LU (2012) In Scandinavian Journal of Public Health
Abstract
Aims: The Swedish National Inpatient Registry is an important source of data for numerous epidemiological studies, amongst them studies on chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). General validation studies indicate that in general 85-95% of diagnoses reported are correct, but this is not true for all groups of diseases, why specific validation studies are of great importance. Methods: Charts from 374 individuals discharged with a COPD diagnosis between 2000-07 from two central hospitals and two university hospitals in the county of Skåne were validated against the original medical files. Criteria for the degree of certainty of the COPD diagnosis were predefined and the association between predictors of diagnostic probability and the... (More)
Aims: The Swedish National Inpatient Registry is an important source of data for numerous epidemiological studies, amongst them studies on chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). General validation studies indicate that in general 85-95% of diagnoses reported are correct, but this is not true for all groups of diseases, why specific validation studies are of great importance. Methods: Charts from 374 individuals discharged with a COPD diagnosis between 2000-07 from two central hospitals and two university hospitals in the county of Skåne were validated against the original medical files. Criteria for the degree of certainty of the COPD diagnosis were predefined and the association between predictors of diagnostic probability and the level of certainty was assessed using an ordinal logistic regression model. Results: According to the Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease criteria, 21.7% of the diagnosis were classified as proven COPD, 35.5% were classified as probable, another 34.0% as possible COPD, 2.1% were classified as having an uncertain diagnosis, and 7.0% as an unlikely COPD diagnosis. Age category (adjusted ORs: 60-79 years, 2.6, 95% CI 1.2-5.4; ≥80 years, 1.6, 95% CI 0.7-3.3) and discharge from a non-surgical department (adjusted OR: 1.7, 95% CI 1.1-2.8) were significantly associated with higher level of diagnostic certainty. Conclusions: A COPD diagnoses from the Swedish Inpatient Registry is of acceptable validity for epidemiological research. The degree of certainty of the diagnosis varies but less than 10% were considered as misclassified or having an uncertain COPD diagnosis. (Less)
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author
; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Scandinavian Journal of Public Health
publisher
SAGE Publications
external identifiers
  • wos:000311854400012
  • pmid:23085721
  • scopus:84870596263
  • pmid:23085721
ISSN
1651-1905
DOI
10.1177/1403494812463172
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
e29a1f19-afbe-4749-8785-fd3f417eda01 (old id 3160520)
alternative location
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23085721?dopt=Abstract
date added to LUP
2016-04-04 09:36:39
date last changed
2022-01-29 18:43:17
@article{e29a1f19-afbe-4749-8785-fd3f417eda01,
  abstract     = {{Aims: The Swedish National Inpatient Registry is an important source of data for numerous epidemiological studies, amongst them studies on chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). General validation studies indicate that in general 85-95% of diagnoses reported are correct, but this is not true for all groups of diseases, why specific validation studies are of great importance. Methods: Charts from 374 individuals discharged with a COPD diagnosis between 2000-07 from two central hospitals and two university hospitals in the county of Skåne were validated against the original medical files. Criteria for the degree of certainty of the COPD diagnosis were predefined and the association between predictors of diagnostic probability and the level of certainty was assessed using an ordinal logistic regression model. Results: According to the Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease criteria, 21.7% of the diagnosis were classified as proven COPD, 35.5% were classified as probable, another 34.0% as possible COPD, 2.1% were classified as having an uncertain diagnosis, and 7.0% as an unlikely COPD diagnosis. Age category (adjusted ORs: 60-79 years, 2.6, 95% CI 1.2-5.4; ≥80 years, 1.6, 95% CI 0.7-3.3) and discharge from a non-surgical department (adjusted OR: 1.7, 95% CI 1.1-2.8) were significantly associated with higher level of diagnostic certainty. Conclusions: A COPD diagnoses from the Swedish Inpatient Registry is of acceptable validity for epidemiological research. The degree of certainty of the diagnosis varies but less than 10% were considered as misclassified or having an uncertain COPD diagnosis.}},
  author       = {{Inghammar, Malin and Engström, Gunnar and Löfdahl, Claes-Göran and Egesten, Arne}},
  issn         = {{1651-1905}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  publisher    = {{SAGE Publications}},
  series       = {{Scandinavian Journal of Public Health}},
  title        = {{Validation of a COPD diagnosis from the Swedish Inpatient Registry.}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1403494812463172}},
  doi          = {{10.1177/1403494812463172}},
  year         = {{2012}},
}