The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA

Abstract #69699

David J Law, PhD¹, Derek A. Chapman, PhD¹, and Richard C. Urbano, PhD². (1) Bureau of Health Informatics, Tennessee Department of Health, Cordell Hull Bldg., 6th Floor, 425 Fifth Ave North, Nashville, TN 37247, 615-253-4702, david.law@state.tn.us, (2) Assistant Commissioner, Bureau of Health Informatics, Tennessee Department of Health, Cordell Hull Bldg., 6th Floor, 425 Fifth Ave. North, Nashville, TN 37247

The Tennessee Birth Defects Registry (TBDR) was established by state law in June 2000. Initially the TBDR operated as a pilot project in a rural northeast region that accounted for approximately 7% of Tennessee’s 79,539 2000 resident births. The pilot project involved hospital-based collection of records containing birth defects diagnoses. Whereas Vital Records data for the region showed only 78 births were affected by birth defects, the hospital-based data showed 211 newborns and infants affected by birth defects. Overall, 303 birth defects were reported in 327 hospital encounters. Among the 46 major birth defects currently tracked by the National Birth Defects Prevention Network (NBDPN) there were 292 diagnoses.

Presently, the TBDR is developing a statewide birth defects tracking system based on the Hospital Discharge Data System (HDDS). The HDDS receives data from all Tennessee hospitals and includes inpatient, outpatient, emergency room, and ambulatory surgery records. HDDS currently provides statewide encounter-level data from 1997 through 2001. Initially, the new HDDS-based system completed statewide counts for the year 2000. Comparing the HDDS and northeast pilot-project counts, the two generally tracked together. However, the HDDS system showed greater sensitivity, detecting a greater number of birth defects. Thus, the HDDS-based system appears to provide better birth defects coverage than a dedicated stand-alone system. The TBDR now plans to employ medical records reviewers who will visit hospitals to evaluate discrepancies in TBDR and Vital Records data, and to collect additional hospital data to evaluate the overall sensitivity and specificity of the current TBDR system.

Learning Objectives:

Session participants will be able to:
• Recognize the value of existing data systems in creating new surveillance systems.
• Evaluate the relative sensitivity and specificity of different surveillance systems.

Keywords: Birth Defects, Surveillance

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.