Software for health care analysts: A modular approach

Roos, Leslie L.; Sharp, Sandra M.; Nicol, James; Waida, Andre

doi:10.1007/bf00993011

Cited by 9 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 23 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Finally, refinements of record linkage procedures, such as the creation of "pockets" of registry records [24] or making use of partial agreements in probabilistic record linkage [25,26] would translate into more complex models of record linkage. Nevertheless, although deviations from the simple assumptions made in the algebraic models presented in this paper are likely to be common in practice, these deviations do not materially alter the main results concerning the direction and the determinants of the effects of record linkage errors.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of Record Linkage Errors on Disease Registration

Brenner

Schmidtmann

1998

Methods Inf Med

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Abstract:Reliable record linkage is a prerequisite for high-quality population-based disease registration. Rapid developments in computer processing have made record linkage both more efficient and more reliable in recent years. At the same time, concerns about confidentiality increasingly hinder record linkage in many disease registries. This paper provides basic algebraic models describing the effects of record linkage errors on monitoring disease incidence. Homonym errors, that is, erroneous linkage of records that pertain to distinct individuals, lead to underestimation of incidence in the registry population. The degree of underestimation strongly depends on the discriminating power of personal identifiers and the record linkage procedure on the one hand, and the number of registered cases on the other hand. Synonym errors, that is, failure to link notifications on the same individual, lead to overestimation of incidence in the population base. The combined effects of record linkage errors are illustrated with empirical examples. We conclude that it is the largest and most informative disease registries that are potentially affected most by impediments of record linkage procedures due to unduly restrictive confidentiality rules.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of Record Linkage Errors on Disease Registration

Brenner

Schmidtmann

1998

Methods Inf Med

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Deterministic linkage involved an exact match on personal identifiers (e.g., last name, DOB) while probabilistic linkage involved comparing records on additional attributes (e.g., sex, region of residence) using LinkPro, a record linkage package [ 2 ]. To reduce misspellings of names in LinkPro, phonetic matches on surnames were conducted using Soundex coding, a name encoding algorithm.…”

Section: Part A) Record Linkage In Manitobamentioning

confidence: 99%

Linking National Immigration Data to Provincial Repositories: The case of Canada

Urquía

Walld

Wanigaratne

et al. 2021

IJPDS

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

BackgroundCanadian health data repositories link datasets at the provincial level, based on their residents’ registrations to provincial health insurance plans. Linking national datasets with provincial health care registries poses several challenges that may result in misclassification and impact the estimation of linkage rates. A recent linkage of a federal immigration database in the province of Manitoba illustrates these challenges. Objectivesa) To describe the linkage of the federal Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada Permanent Resident (IRCC-PR) database with the Manitoba healthcare registry and b) compare data linkage methods and rates between four Canadian provinces accounting for interprovincial mobility of immigrants. MethodsWe compared linkage rates by immigrant’s province of intended destination (province vs. rest of Canada). We used external nationwide immigrant tax filing records to approximate actual settlement and obtain linkage rates corrected for interprovincial mobility. ResultsThe immigrant linkage rates in Manitoba before and after accounting for interprovincial mobility were 84.8% and 96.1, respectively. Linkage rates did not substantially differ according to immigrants’ characteristics, with a few exceptions. Observed linkage rates across the four provinces ranged from 74.0% to 86.7%. After correction for interprovincial mobility, the estimated linkage rates increased >10 percentage points for the provinces that stratified by intended destination (British Columbia and Manitoba) and decreased up to 18 percentage points for provinces that could not use immigration records of those who did not intend to settle in the province (New Brunswick and Ontario). ConclusionsDespite variations in methodology, provincial linkage rates were relatively high. The use of a national immigration dataset for linkage to provincial repositories allows a more comprehensive linkage than that of province-specific subsets. Observed linkage rates can be biased downwards by interprovincial migration, and methods that use external data sources can contribute to assessing potential selection bias and misclassification.

show abstract

“…A linkage package (LINKS) developed at the University of Manitoba provides tools for both deterministic and probabilistic linkage as well as test modules for assessing data quality and structure (Wajda and Roos [1], Roos, Wajda, and Nicol [3], Roos et al [4]).…”

Section: Links Systemmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The logic of the approach is best illustrated by working through a real example (Roos et al [4]). Four lines control the --LINKEXC module:…”

Section: Appendixmentioning

confidence: 99%

Record Linkage Strategies: Part II. Portable Software and Deterministic Matching

Wajda

Roos²,

Layefsky³

et al. 1991

Methods Inf Med

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Software to perform record linkage should have several characteristics: (1) portability in being able to function with researchers’ current arrangement of computer systems and languages, (2) flexibility in handling different linkage strategies, and (3) low cost in both computer time and researchers’ efforts. A linkage package (LINKS) is described which satisfies these criteria; LINKS provides tools for both deterministic and probabilistic linkage as well as test modules for assessing data quality and structure. Because each linkage project is different, the modular nature of the software allows for better control of the programming process and development of unique strategies. Since the user provides the weights and decision rules, he may modify data between steps and/or develop extra steps to supplement the basic modules. In two information-rich linkage projects involving California AIDS data, LINKS identified mortality using deterministic approaches and permitted comparisons with other software and strategies. Flexible software and a deterministic approach would have eliminated the expensive key entry used to add full names and social security numbers as additional identifiers to one of the California data files.

show abstract

Software for health care analysts: A modular approach

Cited by 9 publications

References 23 publications

Effects of Record Linkage Errors on Disease Registration

Effects of Record Linkage Errors on Disease Registration

Linking National Immigration Data to Provincial Repositories: The case of Canada

Record Linkage Strategies: Part II. Portable Software and Deterministic Matching

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About