An evaluation of the completeness of tuberculosis case reporting using hospital billing and laboratory data; Wisconsin, 1995

PURPOSE: The study assesses the completeness of tuberculosis disease (TB) r eporting in Wisconsin and evaluates the usefulness of laboratory and hospit al discharge data as supplemental case ascertainment sources. METHODS: All 1995 hospital billing records with a discharge diagnosis code of TB (ICD-9 CM 010-018) were retrieved and matched to Wisconsin TB registr y records. A hospital discharge summary was obtained for persons not in the registry to verify the TB diagnosis. A list of persons with specimens from which Mycobacterium tuberculosis was isolated in 1995 was requested from a ll Wisconsin and pertinent out-of-state laboratories and compared with the TB registry. RESULTS: Of the 88 TB cases identified from laboratory lists, one (1.1%) wa s unreported. Of the 51 TB cases identified from hospital discharge records , one (2.0%) was unreported. The positive predictive values of laboratory a nd hospital discharge data for a verified TB case were 98.9% and 38.3%, res pectively. CONCLUSIONS: In Wisconsin during 1995, nearly all TB cases among hospitaliz ed persons or persons from whom M. tuberculosis was isolated were reported. Most persons having a TB diagnosis code did not have TB. Published by Else vier Science Inc.