A validation study: how effective is the Hospital Morbidity Data as a surveillance tool for heart failure in Western Australia?

• Published in: Australian and New Zealand journal of public health 2008-10, Vol.32 (5), p.405-407
• Main Authors: Teng, Tiew‐Hwa Katherine, Finn, Judith, Hung, Joseph, Geelhoed, Elizabeth, Hobbs, Michael
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Cardiovascular disease; Charts; Coding; Congestive heart failure; Criteria; Diagnosis; discharge diagnosis; Epidemiology; Female; Forms and Records Control - standards; Heart failure; Heart Failure - classification; Heart Failure - diagnosis; Heart Failure - epidemiology; Hospital Information Systems; hospitalisation; Hospitals; Hospitals, Urban - utilization; Humans; International Classification of Diseases; Male; Medical Audit; Morbidity; Patient Admission - statistics & numerical data; Patients; Population Surveillance - methods; Population-based studies; Sampling Studies; Surveillance; validation studies; Validity; Western Australia - epidemiology; Womens health
• ISSN: 1326-0200; 1753-6405
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1753-6405.2008.00269.x

To determine the accuracy of the hospital discharge coding of heart failure (HF) in the Western Australian (WA) Hospital Morbidity Data (HMD). A retrospective medical chart review of a sample of 1,006 patients with a principal diagnosis code indicating HF in the WA HMD was undertaken. Validation was reported against a written diagnosis of HF in the medical chart and using Boston criteria score as a gold standard. The positive predictive value (PPV) of the HMD coding of HF as the principal diagnosis was 99.5% when compared to the medical chart diagnosis and 92.4% when compared to the Boston score criteria for ‘definite’ HF and 98.8% for a combined ‘possible’ and ‘definite’ HF Boston score. With the high predictive accuracy, the WA HMD can be used with confidence to monitor trends in the epidemiology of in‐hospital HF patients.