Using record linkage to validate notification and laboratory data for a more accurate assessment of notifiable infectious diseases

doi:10.1186/s12911-017-0484-7

. 2017 Jun 17;17(1):86.

doi: 10.1186/s12911-017-0484-7.

Using record linkage to validate notification and laboratory data for a more accurate assessment of notifiable infectious diseases

Faye J Lim¹, Christopher C Blyth^{2

3

4

5}, Avram Levy^{5

6}, Parveen Fathima², Nicholas de Klerk², Carolien Giele⁷, Hannah C Moore²

Affiliations

¹ Wesfarmers Centre of Vaccines and Infectious Diseases, Telethon Kids Institute, The University of Western Australia, PO Box 855, West Perth, WA, 6872, Australia. Janice.Lim@telethonkids.org.au.
² Wesfarmers Centre of Vaccines and Infectious Diseases, Telethon Kids Institute, The University of Western Australia, PO Box 855, West Perth, WA, 6872, Australia.
³ School of Paediatrics and Child Health, The University of Western Australia, GPO Box D184, Perth, WA, 6840, Australia.
⁴ Department of Infectious Diseases, Princess Margaret Hospital for Children, GPO Box D184, Perth, WA, 6840, Australia.
⁵ PathWest Laboratory Medicine WA, QE2 Medical Centre, Locked Bag 2009, Nedlands, WA, 6906, Australia.
⁶ School of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, M504, The University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley, WA, 6009, Australia.
⁷ Communicable Disease Control Directorate, Western Australian Department of Health, PO Box 8172, Perth Business Centre, Perth, 6879, Australia.

PMID: 28623916
PMCID: PMC5473994
DOI: 10.1186/s12911-017-0484-7

Using record linkage to validate notification and laboratory data for a more accurate assessment of notifiable infectious diseases

Faye J Lim et al. BMC Med Inform Decis Mak. 2017.

. 2017 Jun 17;17(1):86.

doi: 10.1186/s12911-017-0484-7.

Authors

Faye J Lim¹, Christopher C Blyth^{2

3

4

5}, Avram Levy^{5

6}, Parveen Fathima², Nicholas de Klerk², Carolien Giele⁷, Hannah C Moore²

Affiliations

¹ Wesfarmers Centre of Vaccines and Infectious Diseases, Telethon Kids Institute, The University of Western Australia, PO Box 855, West Perth, WA, 6872, Australia. Janice.Lim@telethonkids.org.au.
² Wesfarmers Centre of Vaccines and Infectious Diseases, Telethon Kids Institute, The University of Western Australia, PO Box 855, West Perth, WA, 6872, Australia.
³ School of Paediatrics and Child Health, The University of Western Australia, GPO Box D184, Perth, WA, 6840, Australia.
⁴ Department of Infectious Diseases, Princess Margaret Hospital for Children, GPO Box D184, Perth, WA, 6840, Australia.
⁵ PathWest Laboratory Medicine WA, QE2 Medical Centre, Locked Bag 2009, Nedlands, WA, 6906, Australia.
⁶ School of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, M504, The University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley, WA, 6009, Australia.
⁷ Communicable Disease Control Directorate, Western Australian Department of Health, PO Box 8172, Perth Business Centre, Perth, 6879, Australia.

PMID: 28623916
PMCID: PMC5473994
DOI: 10.1186/s12911-017-0484-7

Abstract

Background: Infectious disease burden is commonly assessed using notification data. Using retrospective record linkage in Western Australia, we described how well notification data captures laboratory detections of influenza, pertussis and invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD).

Methods: We linked data from the Western Australian Notifiable Infectious Diseases Database (WANIDD) and the PathWest Laboratory Database (PathWest) pertaining to the Triple I birth cohort, born in Western Australia in 1996-2012. These were combined to calculate the number of unique cases captured in each dataset alone or in both datasets. To assess the impact of under-ascertainment, we compared incidence rates calculated using WANIDD data alone and using combined data.

Results: Overall, there were 5550 influenza, 513 IPD (2001-2012) and 4434 pertussis cases (2000-2012). Approximately 2% of pertussis and IPD cases and 7% of influenza cases were solely recorded in PathWest. Notification of influenza and pertussis cases to WANIDD improved over time. Overall incidence rates of influenza in children aged <5 years using both datasets was 10% higher than using WANIDD data alone (IRR = 1.1, 95% CI = 1.1-1.2).

Conclusions: This is the first time WANIDD data have been validated against routinely collected laboratory data. We anticipated all cases would be captured in WANIDD but found additional laboratory-confirmed cases that were not notified. Studies investigating pathogen-specific infectious disease would benefit from using multiple data sources.

Keywords: Disease notification; Record linkage; Validation studies.

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Figures

**Fig. 1**
Number of influenza, IPD and pertussis cases that were found in each datasets. IPD = invasive pneumococcal disease; WANIDD = Western Australian Notifiable Infectious Diseases Database; PathWest = PathWest Laboratory Medicine Western Australia Database. *Influenza and IPD data restricted to 2001–2012

**Fig. 2**
Proportion of influenza cases recorded in each dataset by year of specimen collection (2001–2012). WANIDD = Western Australian Notifiable Infectious Diseases Database; PathWest = PathWest Laboratory Medicine Western Australia Database. Percentages may not equal to 100 due to rounding

**Fig. 3**
Influenza incidence rates in children aged less than 5 years by year of specimen collection. WANIDD = Western Australian Notifiable Infectious Diseases Database; PathWest = PathWest Laboratory Medicine Western Australia Database

**Fig. 4**
Pertussis incidence rates in children aged less than 5 years by year of specimen collection. WANIDD = Western Australian Notifiable Infectious Diseases Database; PathWest = PathWest Laboratory Medicine Western Australia Database

**Fig. 5**
IPD incidence rates in children aged less than 5 years by year of specimen collection. WANIDD = Western Australian Notifiable Infectious Diseases Database; PathWest = PathWest Laboratory Medicine Western Australia Database

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References

1. Department of Health. Protocol for making a change to the National Notifiable Diseases List (NNDL) in Australia [Internet]. [cited 2016 Jun 20]. Available from: http://www.health.gov.au/internet/main/publishing.nsf/Content/ohp-protoc....
1. Department of Health. Surveillance systems reported in Communicable Diseases Intelligence, 2016 [Internet]. [cited 2016 Jun 20]. Available from: http://www.health.gov.au/internet/main/publishing.nsf/Content/cda-survei....
1. Holman CDJ, Bass AJ, Rouse IL, Hobbs MST. Population-based linkage of health records in Western Australia: development of a health services research linked database. Aust N Z J Public Health. 1999;23:453–9. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-842X.1999.tb01297.x. - DOI - PubMed
1. Moore HC, de Klerk N, Keil AD, Smith DW, Blyth CC, Richmond P, et al. Use of data linkage to investigate the aetiology of acute lower respiratory infection hospitalisations in children. J Paediatr Child Health. 2012;48:520–8. doi: 10.1111/j.1440-1754.2011.02229.x. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
1. Hardelid P, Dattani N, Cortina-Borja M, Gilbert R. Contribution of respiratory tract infections to child deaths: A data linkage study. BMC Public Health. 2014;14:1191. doi: 10.1186/1471-2458-14-1191. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

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[1] Department of Health. Protocol for making a change to the National Notifiable Diseases List (NNDL) in Australia [Internet]. [cited 2016 Jun 20]. Available from: http://www.health.gov.au/internet/main/publishing.nsf/Content/ohp-protoc....

[2] Department of Health. Protocol for making a change to the National Notifiable Diseases List (NNDL) in Australia [Internet]. [cited 2016 Jun 20]. Available from: http://www.health.gov.au/internet/main/publishing.nsf/Content/ohp-protoc....

[3] Department of Health. Surveillance systems reported in Communicable Diseases Intelligence, 2016 [Internet]. [cited 2016 Jun 20]. Available from: http://www.health.gov.au/internet/main/publishing.nsf/Content/cda-survei....

[4] Department of Health. Surveillance systems reported in Communicable Diseases Intelligence, 2016 [Internet]. [cited 2016 Jun 20]. Available from: http://www.health.gov.au/internet/main/publishing.nsf/Content/cda-survei....

[5] Holman CDJ, Bass AJ, Rouse IL, Hobbs MST. Population-based linkage of health records in Western Australia: development of a health services research linked database. Aust N Z J Public Health. 1999;23:453–9. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-842X.1999.tb01297.x. - DOI - PubMed

[6] Holman CDJ, Bass AJ, Rouse IL, Hobbs MST. Population-based linkage of health records in Western Australia: development of a health services research linked database. Aust N Z J Public Health. 1999;23:453–9. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-842X.1999.tb01297.x. - DOI - PubMed

[7] Moore HC, de Klerk N, Keil AD, Smith DW, Blyth CC, Richmond P, et al. Use of data linkage to investigate the aetiology of acute lower respiratory infection hospitalisations in children. J Paediatr Child Health. 2012;48:520–8. doi: 10.1111/j.1440-1754.2011.02229.x. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

[8] Moore HC, de Klerk N, Keil AD, Smith DW, Blyth CC, Richmond P, et al. Use of data linkage to investigate the aetiology of acute lower respiratory infection hospitalisations in children. J Paediatr Child Health. 2012;48:520–8. doi: 10.1111/j.1440-1754.2011.02229.x. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

[9] Hardelid P, Dattani N, Cortina-Borja M, Gilbert R. Contribution of respiratory tract infections to child deaths: A data linkage study. BMC Public Health. 2014;14:1191. doi: 10.1186/1471-2458-14-1191. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

[10] Hardelid P, Dattani N, Cortina-Borja M, Gilbert R. Contribution of respiratory tract infections to child deaths: A data linkage study. BMC Public Health. 2014;14:1191. doi: 10.1186/1471-2458-14-1191. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

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Using record linkage to validate notification and laboratory data for a more accurate assessment of notifiable infectious diseases

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Using record linkage to validate notification and laboratory data for a more accurate assessment of notifiable infectious diseases

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