Agreement between self-reported perinatal outcomes and administrative data in New South Wales, Australia

Abstract

BackgroundMany epidemiological studies that focus on pregnancy rely on maternal self-report of perinatal outcomes. The aim of this study was to evaluate the agreement between self-reported perinatal outcomes (gestational hypertension with or without proteinuria, gestational diabetes, premature birth and low birth weight) in a longitudinal study and linked to administrative data (medical records).MethodsSelf-reported survey data from the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women’s Health was linked with the New South Wales Perinatal Data Collection. Agreement between the two sources was evaluated using percentage agreement and kappa statistics. Analyses were conducted at two levels by: i) the mother and ii) each individual child.ResultsWomen reliably self-report their perinatal outcomes (≥87 % agreement). Gestational hypertension with or without proteinuria had the lowest level of agreement. Mothers’ reports of perinatal outcomes were more reliable when evaluated by child. Restricting the analysis to complete and consistent reporting further strengthened the reliability of the child-specific data, increasing the agreement from >92 to >95 % for all outcomes.ConclusionsThe present study offers a high degree of confidence in the use of maternal self-reports of the perinatal outcomes gestational hypertension, gestational diabetes, preterm birth and low birth weight in epidemiological research, particularly when reported on a per child basis. Furthermore self-report offers a cost-effective and convenient method for gathering detailed maternal perinatal histories.

Pre-pregnancy dietary patterns and risk of gestational diabetes mellitus: results from an Australian population-based prospective cohort study

“…Diagnosis was confirmed with a 75 g OGTT (fasting) with a venous plasma glucose level at 0 h of ≥5.1% (5.6 mmol/l) and/or at 2 h of ≥6.65% (8.0 mmol/l) [24]. A reliability study among a subgroup of women from New South Wales (n=1,914) demonstrated high agreement of 91% between self-reported GDM diagnosis in our study and administrative data records [25].…”

The prevalence of gestational diabetes mellitus: The accuracy of the NSW perinatal data collection based on a private hospital experience

“…8,9 In 2002, a study in Wollongong found around 50% of women with GDM were missed in the private hospital setting. 10 While there was a strong correlation between Ministry records and other reported data, including hospital records, 11,12 and maternal self-reports, 13 no reviews have been carried out on what is not recorded, and this is critical. Ways to overcome this problem have been suggested, 10 and considered, 14 but not implemented.…”

Pre-pregnancy weight change and incidence of gestational diabetes mellitus: A finding from a prospective cohort study

“…If high risk (obese) or low risk (under/normal weight) women differentially reported their GDM status, associations could have been biased to either direction. However, selfreported weight has shown to be a reliable estimate [26] and a high level of agreement between self-reported physician diagnosed GDM and the medical record has been also found in a subpopulation of this cohort [20]. Associations were adjusted for a variety of risk factors of GDM, but unmeasured factors such as family history of GDM or diabetes, ethnicity and gestational weight gain may have introduced residual confounding.…”

“…Diagnosis was confirmed with a 75 g oral glucose tolerance test (fasting) with a venous plasma glucose level at 0 hour of ≥ 5.6 mmol/l and/or at 2 hours of ≥ 8.0 mmol/l [19]. Recently, in a subpopulation of the ALSWH 1973-78 cohort (n = 1,914), a validation study between selfreported perinatal outcomes and medical records showed a high level of agreement (>92%), between self-reported physician diagnosed GDM and the medical record [20].…”