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. 2023 Mar:79:10-18.
doi: 10.1016/j.annepidem.2022.12.014. Epub 2023 Jan 2.

Linked birth cohort files for perinatal health research: California as a model for methodology and implementation

Beate H Danielsen  1 , Suzan L Carmichael  2 , Jeffrey B Gould  3 , Henry C Lee  4
Affiliations

Linked birth cohort files for perinatal health research: California as a model for methodology and implementation

Beate H Danielsen et al. Ann Epidemiol. 2023 Mar.

Abstract

Purpose: Rigorous perinatal epidemiologic research depends on population-based parental and neonatal sociodemographic and clinical data. Here we describe the creation of linked birth cohort files, an enriched data source that combines information from vital records with maternal delivery and infant hospital encounter records.

Methods: Probabilistic linkage techniques were used to link vital records (i.e., birth and fetal death certificates) from the California Department of Public Health with hospital inpatient, ambulatory surgery and emergency department encounter data for mothers and infants from the California Department of Health Care Access and Information.

Results: From 2012 to 2018, 95% of live birth records were successfully linked to maternal and newborn hospital records while 85% of fetal death records were linked to a maternal delivery record. Overall, 93% of postnatal hospital encounters of infants (i.e., <1 year old) were matched to a linked record.

Conclusions: The linked birth cohort files is a rich resource opening many possibilities for understanding perinatal health outcomes and opportunities for linkage to longitudinal, social determinant, and environmental data. To optimally use this file for research, analysts should evaluate possible shortcomings or biases of the data sources being linked.

Keywords: Birth; Data linkage; Infant health; Maternal health; Pregnancy.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of interests

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Description of Linked Birth Cohort File (LBCF) components and additional potential linkages.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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