@article{ref1,
title="Validity of administrative data for characterizing traumatic brain injury-related hospitalizations",
journal="Brain injury",
year="2005",
author="Shore, Andrew D. and McCarthy, Melissa L. and Serpi, Tracey and Gertner, Melanie",
volume="19",
number="8",
pages="613-621",
abstract="PRIMARY OBJECTIVE: To examine the validity of Maryland Hospital Discharge (MHD) data for identifying and characterizing traumatic brain injury (TBI)-related hospitalizations. METHODS: All TBI-related hospitalizations in 1999 were identified using MHD and Maryland Trauma Registry (MTR) data. In addition, a sample of records were abstracted to compare agreement between MHD and chart data. RESULTS: The MHD file identified fewer TBI cases (61%) compared to the MTR (95%). Overall, TBI-related hospitalization rates based on MHD were significantly fewer (95; 95% CI 92, 98) vs MHD and MTR (144; 95% CI 140, 147). There was good agreement between the MHD and chart data regarding skull fractures or intracranial lesions (kappa = 0.73 and 0.83, respectively), but poor agreement for neurologic abnormalities or amnesia. The MHD significantly underestimated TBI severity. CONCLUSIONS: TBI cases, especially mild ones, were under-reported by MHD data. MHD data are better at detecting anatomic injuries compared to TBI symptoms and sequella.",
language="",
issn="0269-9052",
doi="",
url="http://dx.doi.org/"
}