Validity of administrative data for characterizing traumatic brain injury-related hospitalizations

Primary objective: To examine the validity of Maryland Hospital Discharge (MHD) data for identifying and characterizing traumatic brain injury (TBI)-related hospitalizations. Methods: All TBI-related hospitalizations in 1999 were identified using MHD and Maryland Trauma Registry (MTR) data. In addit...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Brain injury 2005-08, Vol.19 (8), p.613-621
Main Authors: Shore, Andrew D, Mccarthy, Melissa L, Serpi, Tracey, Gertner, Melanie
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
administrative data sources
Adolescent
Adult
Aged
Brain Injuries - epidemiology
Child
Child, Preschool
Female
Hospitalization - statistics & numerical data
Humans
Infant
Infant, Newborn
injury epidemiology
Male
Maryland - epidemiology
Middle Aged
Patient Discharge - statistics & numerical data
Reproducibility of Results
Traumatic brain injury
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Summary:Primary objective: To examine the validity of Maryland Hospital Discharge (MHD) data for identifying and characterizing traumatic brain injury (TBI)-related hospitalizations. Methods: All TBI-related hospitalizations in 1999 were identified using MHD and Maryland Trauma Registry (MTR) data. In addition, a sample of records were abstracted to compare agreement between MHD and chart data. Results: The MHD file identified fewer TBI cases (61%) compared to the MTR (95%). Overall, TBI-related hospitalization rates based on MHD were significantly fewer (95; 95% CI 92, 98) vs MHD and MTR (144; 95% CI 140, 147). There was good agreement between the MHD and chart data regarding skull fractures or intracranial lesions (κ = 0.73 and 0.83, respectively), but poor agreement for neurologic abnormalities or amnesia. The MHD significantly underestimated TBI severity. Conclusions: TBI cases, especially mild ones, were under-reported by MHD data. MHD data are better at detecting anatomic injuries compared to TBI symptoms and sequella.
ISSN:0269-9052
1362-301X
DOI:10.1080/02699050400013568