Estimation of the incidence of MRSA patients: evaluation of a surveillance system using health insurance claim data

Abstract

SUMMARYBecause sentinel surveillance systems cannot obtain information about patients who visit non-sentinel medical facilities, the characteristics of patients identified by these systems may be biased. In this study, we evaluated the representativeness of a methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) surveillance system using health insurance claim (HIC) data, which does not depend on physician notification. We calculated the age-specific incidence of MRSA patients using data from the Japan Nosocomial Infections Surveillance (JANIS) programme, which is based on sentinel surveillance systems, and inpatient HICs submitted to employee health insurance organizations in 2011, and then computed age-specific incidence ratios between the HIC and JANIS data. Age-specific MRSA incidence in both datasets followed J-shaped curves with similar shapes. For all age groups, the ratios between HIC and JANIS data were around 10. These findings indicate that JANIS notification of MRSA cases was not affected by patients’ age.

Quality and Utility of Information Captured by Surveillance Systems Relevant to Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR): A Systematic Review

“…An analysis of the potential for sampling bias in the 30 studies [ 12 , 18 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 , 35 , 36 , 37 , 38 , 39 , 40 , 41 , 42 , 43 , 44 , 45 , 46 , 47 ] that used retrospective analysis of routinely collected data revealed that the rationale for the choice of the time period and the geographic area was not provided in all studies. Furthermore, the studies did not all include a description of who had collected and analysed the data and whether they had an affiliation with the programme (i.e., whether they were independent or not).…”

“…Representativeness was included in only three evaluations [ 13 , 16 , 38 ], all using retrospective analysis of routinely collected data. An evaluation of a methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) surveillance system in Japan using health insurance claims [ 38 ] observed that the surveillance system was accurately representing the ages of patients. Saeed et al [ 13 ] observed that the HMIS in Afghanistan only included public health facilities with no data from the private sector (which it was attempting to cover).…”

“…Representativeness was included in only three evaluations [13,16,38], all using retrospective analysis of routinely collected data. An evaluation of a methicillin-resistant Staphy-lococcus aureus (MRSA) surveillance system in Japan using health insurance claims [38] observed that the surveillance system was accurately representing the ages of patients.…”

Using information technology to improve surveillance of antimicrobial resistance in South East Asia

“…Japan has reached out to many countries in the region (eg, Indonesia and India) by offering the JANIS software to support national AMR surveillance. 12 13 14 …”

Trends of the Use of Anti-methicillin-Resistant <i>Staphylococcus aureus</i> Agents in Japan Based on Sales Data from 2006 to 2015

“…Antimicrobial-resistant bacteria pose a major global health problem because treatment options are extremely limited. 1) In 2015, the WHO proposed that all member countries establish a national action plan for countering antimicrobial resistance (AMR). 2) In Japan, the Ministry of Health Labour and Welfare formulated a national action plan on AMR in 2016, and the monitoring of antibiotic use and resistant bacteria has been strengthened since then.…”