Development a national minimum data set (MDS) of the information management system for disability in Iran

• Published in: Disability and health journal 2019-10, Vol.12 (4), p.641-648
• Main Authors: Ahmadi, Maryam, Madani, Talat, Alipour, Jahanpour
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Checklist; Consensus; Cross-Sectional Studies; Data Accuracy; Databases, Factual; Datasets as Topic - standards; Delphi Technique; Disabled Persons; Health Information Management; Humans; Iran; Reproducibility of Results; Surveys and Questionnaires
• ISSN: 1936-6574; 1876-7583
• DOI: 10.1016/j.dhjo.2019.05.008

Disability management and policymaking require complete and valid data on disability. Development of a minimum data set (MDS) of the information management system for disability in Iran. This descriptive, cross-sectional study was performed in 2017. Data were collected from the documents of persons with disabilities data bank of the State Welfare Organization of Iran available at "payment.behzisti.net", and data elements of the Ministry of Health and Medical Education (MOHME) resources, in addition to the Internet and library. A checklist was used for data collection. The Delphi technique was applied to reach a consensus about the data elements using a questionnaire. The content validity and reliability of the questionnaire were assessed by experts' opinions and the test-retest method, respectively. An MDS of disability was developed including administrative and clinical categories with 130 and 345 data elements, respectively. Two hundred and thirty eight data elements were mandatory elements (administrative: 60, clinical: 178) and the rest were optional elements. An MDS can be a starting point for standardizing the disability data. A minimum data set has the potential to standardize the data and overcome the problem of low-quality disability data in Iran through providing consistent, complete and uniform data elements. Thus, the use of this MDS is useful in determination of the level of disability and its benefits, and in policy-making and effective planning for providing persons with disabilities with more efficient and cost-effective services.