Co-morbidity data in outcomes research - Are clinical data derived from administrative databases a reliable alternative to chart review?

Evaluation of co-morbidity data is essential in health outcomes research. C o-morbidity data derived from administrative databases has been criticized for lacking the accuracy required for clinical research. We compared co-mor bidity data derived from a Canadian provincial hospitalization database wit h chart review in 817 adults treated with a percutaneous coronary intervent ion at a single tertiary care hospital between 1994 and 1995. While the adm inistrative database tended to under-estimate the prevalence of some co-mor bid conditions, the agreement between chart review and administrative data was good to very good for most conditions. Asymptomatic conditions were not ed to have lower levels of agreement. Multivariate risk models for all-caus e mortality constructed from both data sources were almost identical, sugge sting minimal misclassification. The results indicate that clinical data ab stracted from most Canadian hospitalization databases can provide reliable information regarding baseline co-morbid conditions believed to influence s urvival in a population undergoing percutaneous coronary interventions. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved.