Adjusting for under-identification of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander births in time series produced from birth records: Using record linkage of survey data and administrative data sources

Lawrence, David; Christensen, Dale B.; Mitrou, Francis; Draper, Glenn; Davis, Geoff; McKeown, Sybille; McAullay, Daniel; Pearson, Glenn; Zubrick, Stephen R.

doi:10.1186/1471-2288-12-90

Cited by 23 publications

(28 citation statements)

References 12 publications

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“…Furthermore the allocation of Indigenous status on medical records and registers depends on how, or even if, such information is solicited. This makes research comparing outcomes between Indigenous and non‐Indigenous births an inexact science . Although most persons identifying as Indigenous now live in metropolitan regions, Indigenous status is still associated with social, financial, and educational disadvantages and with rural or remote residence.…”

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confidence: 99%

“…This makes research comparing outcomes between Indigenous and non-Indigenous births an inexact science. 4,5 Although most persons identifying as Indigenous now live in metropolitan regions, Indigenous status is still associated with social, financial, and educational disadvantages and with rural or remote residence. The proportion of persons identifying as Indigenous is higher in the northern parts of Australia in three jurisdictions: the Northern Territory, Queensland, and Western Australia.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Comparing risks of cerebral palsy in births between Australian Indigenous and non‐Indigenous mothers

Blair

Watson

O’Kearney

et al. 2016

Develop Med Child Neuro

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AIM To compare proportions of live births subsequently described as having cerebral palsy (CP), the distributions of associated impairments, and the causes of postneonatal CP between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (Indigenous) and non-Indigenous populations in Australia.METHOD Data from statutory birth records and CP registers for the 1996 to 2005 birth cohort in Queensland, Western Australia, and the Northern Territory were stratified by Indigenous status and whether the CP was acquired pre/perinatally or postneonatally. Relative risks associated with Indigenous status were estimated and the distributions of causes of postneonatal CP compared.RESULTS Indigenous births had a relative risk of 4.9 (95% confidence interval [CI] 3.0-7.9) for postneonatal CP but only of 1.42 (95% CI 1.2-1.7) for pre/perinatal CP. Almost half of postneonatal CP in Indigenous infants resulted from infection, whereas for non-Indigenous infants the most frequent cause was cerebrovascular accident. The impairments of Indigenous CP and of postneonatally acquired CP tended to be more numerous and more severe.INTERPRETATION Indigenous children are at significantly greater risk of CP, particularly postneonatal CP. The predominant cause of postneonatal CP in non-Indigenous children has shifted to cerebrovascular accident over time; however, infections followed by head injury are still the most frequent causes in Indigenous infants.In Australia, health outcomes tend to be less favourable among persons claiming Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander heritage (Indigenous) than in the non-Indigenous. Based on 2006 census data, estimates of proportions with disability requiring assistance with a core activity were almost twice as high for Indigenous Australians as for nonIndigenous Australians. 1 This discrepancy is echoed in the rate of disability among students in South Australian schools based on allocation of resources for children with special needs: 13.9% in Aboriginal students compared with 6.6% in non-Aboriginals. 2 The proportion of births subsequently described as having cerebral palsy (CP) is no exception, with 1980 to 1999 data from the Western Australian CP Register showing that the 5.6% of Western Australian births to Indigenous mothers accounted for 10.7% (144 out of 1350) of all CP. 3 Even though higher proportions of disability in the Indigenous population are consistently reported, CP is likely to be under-ascertained in this group for several reasons. Indigenous Australians tend to be more accepting of developmental differences in their children and less inclined to stigmatize them as different from other children, preferring not to seek a medical diagnosis unless there is a clear practical reason. 2 Furthermore, a history of children being removed from Indigenous families by governmental agencies has given these families cause to be mistrustful of the motives of the medical community. Indigenous families also tend to be more mobile than the non-Indigenous which, combined with being less likely to seek medical intervent...

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confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Comparing risks of cerebral palsy in births between Australian Indigenous and non‐Indigenous mothers

Blair

Watson

O’Kearney

et al. 2016

Develop Med Child Neuro

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“…Data linkage studies of adult populations have demonstrated that under‐identification of Aboriginal people affects estimates of health, and can overestimate or underestimate the health gap between Aboriginal and non‐Aboriginal Australians . Few studies have examined the identification of Aboriginal children in multiple administrative datasets and how this may affect estimates of health and development …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…[3][4][5] Data linkage studies of adult populations have demonstrated that underidentification of Aboriginal people affects estimates of health, and can overestimate or underestimate the health gap between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Australians. [4][5][6][7][8][9][10] Few studies have examined the identification of Aboriginal children in multiple administrative datasets [11][12][13][14] and how this may affect estimates of health and development. 11,14 A challenge when using administrative data for measuring inequalities in child health and development is that children cannot self-identify.…”

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confidence: 99%

“…[4][5][6][7][8][9][10] Few studies have examined the identification of Aboriginal children in multiple administrative datasets [11][12][13][14] and how this may affect estimates of health and development. 11,14 A challenge when using administrative data for measuring inequalities in child health and development is that children cannot self-identify. In administrative datasets, the Aboriginal ethnicity of the child is inferred using adult identification of the child or is based on the ethnicity of the mother, and/or father.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Identification of Aboriginal children using linked administrative data: Consequences for measuring inequalities

Gialamas

Pilkington

Berry

et al. 2016

J Paediatrics Child Health

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The proportion of South Australian children identified as Aboriginal in administrative datasets, and hence inequalities in developmental outcomes, varied depending on which and how many data sources were used. Linking multiple administrative datasets to determine the Aboriginal ethnicity of the child may be useful to inform policy, interventions, service delivery and how well we are closing developmental gaps.

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Evidence for the use of an algorithm in resolving inconsistent and missing Indigenous status in administrative data collections

Christensen¹,

Davis²,

Draper³

et al. 2014

Aust J Social Issues

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122

119

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Measures of the gap in living standards, life expectancy, education, health and employment between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians are primarily derived from administrative data sources. However, Indigenous identification in these data sources is affected by administrative practices, missing data, inconsistency, and error. As these factors have changed over time, assessing whether the gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians has changed over time, based on data unadjusted for these sources of error can potentially lead to misguided conclusions. Combining administrative data on the same individuals collected from different sources provides a method by which a more consistent derived Indigenous status can be applied across all records for an individual within a linked data environment. We used the Western Australian Data Linkage system to produce derived Indigenous statuses for individuals using a range of algorithms. We found that these algorithms reduced the amount of missing data and improved within-individual consistency. Based on these findings, we recommend our Multi-Stage Median algorithm be used as the standard indicator of Indigenous status for any reporting based on administrative datasets when multiple datasets are available for linkage, and that algorithmic approaches also be considered for improving the quality of other demographic variables from administrative data sources.

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Adjusting for under-identification of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander births in time series produced from birth records: Using record linkage of survey data and administrative data sources

Cited by 23 publications

References 12 publications

Comparing risks of cerebral palsy in births between Australian Indigenous and non‐Indigenous mothers

Comparing risks of cerebral palsy in births between Australian Indigenous and non‐Indigenous mothers

Identification of Aboriginal children using linked administrative data: Consequences for measuring inequalities

Evidence for the use of an algorithm in resolving inconsistent and missing Indigenous status in administrative data collections

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