NSW Register of Congenital Conditions record linkage study

Summary

The purpose of this record linkage study was to assess the quality and coverage of reporting to the NSW Register of Congenital Conditions (RoCC) compared to admitted patient records. The aims of the the study were to:

• determine the number and type of confirmed congenital conditions reported to the Admitted Patient Data Collection (APD) and not to the RoCC for 2009
• assess the contribution of APD review in supplementing the RoCC
• determine the sensitivity of the RoCC in detecting cases using the total count of cases reported on the APD and validated by medical record review plus cases reported to the RoCC as the gold standard
• assess the reliability of coding of congenital conditions on the APD
• assess the efficiency of the linkage and review process.