Search PubMed⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search PubMed

Results for “Data Accuracy”

Search indexed PubMed citations on genomics, clinical trials, systematic reviews and public health. Explore titles, authors and supplied subject terms, then open the PubMed record.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 343 records · Page 19Linked to original sources
PubMedDate not supplied

Using a relational database to support nursing research.

Designing, implementing, and maintaining a relational database for a complex, longitudinal clinical research project can be the key to the success of a research project. Related issues of data entry, accuracy, confidentiality, security, data analysis, and evaluation of research activities are among the considerations that must be addressed. Our experience with designing a system that was effective and user-friendly to manage the data collected during a 6-year, National Institutes of Health-funded, nursing research project is highlighted. Nurses and other healthcare providers may find our experience with a relational database helpful and applicable to similar clinical research projects.

Clinical Nursing Research↗
PubMed2005

Emergency department visits in Wisconsin 1998-2002: trends in usage and accuracy of reported data.

INTRODUCTION: There is a paucity of data regarding the utilization of emergency departments (EDs) across Wisconsin. It is unknown if national trends in increased utilization are consistent within our state. Several years ago, mandatory reporting of ED visits to the Department of Health and Family Services was instituted and, if accurate, may provide a method for tracking ED usage. METHODS: We conducted a survey of existing EDs to study the trend in patient visits for the 5-year time period 1998-2003. Data reported in the surveyed departments were compared to those reported to the state database. RESULTS: On average, all EDs reported a consistent yearly increase in patient visits over the time period (an average overall increase of 10%). On average, this increase was larger for smaller hospitals. Growth was consistent over the time period, but the yearly rate steadily slowed down. Data reported to the state consistently underreported the actual census. CONCLUSION: All sizes of EDs across Wisconsin continue to show increases in ED utilization. The growth rate is consistent but may be slowing. This has implications for planning for ED resources. Reported data have many discrepancies and need to be independently checked before they can be utilized in any research or planning.

Catchment Area, Health↗
PubMed2006

Internet methods in the study of women's physical activity.

Internet self-reporting methods have opened new opportunities in research that focuses on women's physical activity. Understanding the strengths and limitations of this self-report Internet method is critical to conducting a feasible and effective Internet study. The purpose of this paper is to address consideration of the strengths and limitations for researchers undertaking physical activity studies of women utilizing the Internet self-reporting method (Tables 1 and 2). The analysis utilizes a cross-sectional Internet survey regarding physical activity among women. Five major strengths were found including (1) reciprocal communication, (2) reduction of data incompleteness, (3) accuracy of data entry, (4) convenience, and (5) confidentiality and anonymity. Five potential limitations were found including (1) low response rate, (2) recall bias, (3) validity and reliability of Internet-based instruments, (4) sample bias, and (5) indirect measurement. Information in this paper may serve as a future reference for researchers engaged in using a self-report Internet method to estimate women's engagement in physical activity.

Adult↗
PubMed1995

Malpractice data from the National Practitioner Data Bank.

The National Practitioner Data Bank (NPDB) is a computer depository of healthcare providers' malpractice payments by insurers and adverse actions by licensing boards, hospitals or professional societies accumulated since September 1, 1990. The NPDB provides a resource for health care entities to query before hiring healthcare providers with the hope of identifying possible incompetent practitioners. The statistics isolating physician and nursing malpractice payment used in this article were obtained from Senator Inouye who requested their compilation from the Department of Health and Human Services. An examination of the NPDB malpractice payment reports to 1993 for Registered Nurses (RN), Advanced Practice Nurses (APN), and physicians shows that RNs and APNs are reported much less frequently than physicians. This article presents the raw and rate data, discusses accuracy of the data, and presents implications for APNs.

Databases, Factual↗
PubMed2003

Accuracy of family history data on Parkinson's disease.

BACKGROUND: Genetic studies of PD frequently rely on family history interviews (FHI), yet the accuracy of data obtained in this way is unclear. OBJECTIVE: To assess the interinformant reliability and validity of family history information on PD in first-degree relatives of PD cases and controls. METHODS: A structured FHI was administered to nondemented PD cases and controls and to a second informant (self-report, sibling or child of the subject) for each relative. Interinformant agreement was assessed on four algorithm-derived diagnostic categories of PD: definite, definite or probable, definite, probable or possible ("conservative diagnosis"); or definite, probable, possible, or uncertain ("liberal diagnosis"). The sensitivity and specificity of each diagnostic category were assessed, using as the gold standard diagnoses based on either in-person examination or medical record review. RESULTS: Five hundred thirty-six families containing 2,225 first-degree relatives were included in the interinformant reliability study. Agreement between informants was excellent for definite or probable PD for all three pairwise comparisons: proband vs self-report (kappa = 0.92), proband vs sibling of subject (kappa = 0.80), and proband vs child of subject (kappa = 0.87). Agreement was also good to excellent for the conservative diagnosis (kappa = 0.66, 0.49, and 0.79). In the validity analysis (141 individuals in 96 families), the conservative diagnosis provided the best combination of sensitivity (95.5%) and specificity (96.2%) for the proband's family history report. No difference was apparent across categories defined by case or control status, relationship to the proband, or gender or age at onset of the proband. However, specificity was lower for deceased relatives than for living relatives. CONCLUSION: The FHI can be used to obtain reliable and valid family history information on PD in first-degree relatives when a conservative diagnostic algorithm is applied.

Algorithms↗
PubMed1981

Accuracy of the patient identifier in a family practice data system.

The accuracy of a general practice data system has been measured and has improved considerably over three years. It is difficult to identify all the factors contributing to this change, but an overall effort to emphasize the importance of recording patient identifiers correctly has been effective. No directly comparable error rates have been reported elsewhere; consequently, relative accuracy cannot be known. Administrators and managers of data systems are urged to determine levels of error and disseminate this information.

Family Practice↗
PubMed2003

Missing data, incomplete taxa, and phylogenetic accuracy.

The problem of missing data is often considered to be the most important obstacle in reconstructing the phylogeny of fossil taxa and in combining data from diverse characters and taxa for phylogenetic analysis. Empirical and theoretical studies show that including highly incomplete taxa can lead to multiple equally parsimonious trees, poorly resolved consensus trees, and decreased phylogenetic accuracy. However, the mechanisms that cause incomplete taxa to be problematic have remained unclear. It has been widely assumed that incomplete taxa are problematic because of the proportion or amount of missing data that they bear. In this study, I use simulations to show that the reduced accuracy associated with including incomplete taxa is caused by these taxa bearing too few complete characters rather than too many missing data cells. This seemingly subtle distinction has a number of important implications. First, the so-called missing data problem for incomplete taxa is, paradoxically, not directly related to their amount or proportion of missing data. Thus, the level of completeness alone should not guide the exclusion of taxa (contrary to common practice), and these results may explain why empirical studies have sometimes found little relationship between the completeness of a taxon and its impact on an analysis. These results also (1) suggest a more effective strategy for dealing with incomplete taxa, (2) call into question a justification of the controversial phylogenetic supertree approach, and (3) show the potential for the accurate phylogenetic placement of highly incomplete taxa, both when combining diverse data sets and when analyzing relationships of fossil taxa.

Computer Simulation↗
PubMed1984

Accuracy of basic cancer patient data: results from an extensive recoding survey.

The accuracy of data coded from the medical records of 985 patients from 22 major U.S. cancer centers was checked by recoding during 1978-81. The 29 items covered demographics, diagnosis, and therapy. Original codes were compared to recodes, and disagreements were classified as major or minor. The highest rate of major disagreements, 23%, was for stage of disease, followed by 10% for histology and 7% for site. Major disagreement rates for most other items were under 7%. Only 3% of a large sample of major disagreements involved justifiable differences in interpretation; the others were due to errors in the use of records. Major disagreement rates varied by a factor of 10 across sites, 4 across centers, and 2 across stage of disease. For several items the code "unknown" was overused and led to disagreements. A new procedure is presented for analysis of disagreement rates. The results from this procedure can guide training effort to improve coding accuracy.

Data Collection↗
PubMed2003

New hybrid technique for accurate and reproducible quantitation of dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI data.

The accuracy and precision of two major approaches for analyzing dynamic MRI data from the first passage of a Gd-DTPA contrast bolus are examined, using a Monte Carlo simulation. Method 1 fits the contrast concentration curve of the first pass to a two-compartment kinetic model to determine the tissue pharmacokinetic parameters. Method 2 decomposes intravascular and interstitial components of the first-pass curve based on a leakage profile (LP) model. Based on the results of these Monte Carlo simulations, a new "hybrid" method is proposed that combines both analytical approaches to optimize accuracy and precision of estimates of K(trans), v(e), and v(p). The new method was evaluated by computer simulation and used on experimental results from a patient with primary brain tumors. The new method has the potential to provide more accurate quantification of tissue plasma volume and vessel permeability.

Blood Volume↗
PubMed2002

A multicenter study of the coding accuracy of hospital discharge administrative data for patients admitted to cardiac care units in Ontario.

BACKGROUND: Cardiac health services researchers frequently use cohorts derived from administrative hospital discharge abstract data to study the outcomes and treatment of coronary artery disease. However, relatively limited data exist on the accuracy of the coding of cardiac diagnoses in discharge abstract data. The goal of this study was to examine the accuracy of the coding of acute myocardial infarction and other cardiac diagnoses in the Canadian Institute of Health Information hospital discharge abstracts. METHODS: Patients admitted to 58 cardiac care units (CCUs) in Ontario that participated in the Fastrak II Acute Coronary Syndromes registry were linked to CIHI hospital discharge abstracts. The most responsible diagnosis at hospital discharge in the administrative data was compared with the CCU discharge diagnosis in the clinical registry. RESULTS: A total of 58,816 CCU patients were linked to hospital discharge abstract data. The specificity, sensitivity, and positive predictive value of a most responsible diagnosis of acute myocardial infarction were 92.8%, 88.8%, and 88.5%, respectively. The specificity of CIHI diagnosis codes for arrhythmia, congestive heart failure, unstable angina, and chest pain not yet diagnosed were all at least 93.9%. However, the sensitivity of these CIHI diagnosis codes was no greater than 60.7%. Furthermore, the positive predictive values were no larger than 80.8%. CONCLUSION: Myocardial infarction is generally accurately coded in Ontario hospital discharge abstract data. However, other cardiac diagnoses are less reliably coded in discharge abstract data.

Aged↗
PubMed2000

Diagnostic accuracy of four approaches to interpreting neuropsychological test data.

The diagnostic accuracy of 4 approaches to interpreting neuropsychological test results are evaluated in 672 cognitively normal and 407 cognitively impaired persons using the Mayo Cognitive Factor Scales (G. E. Smith et al., 1994). The interpretation approaches studied are absolute scores, difference scores, profile variability, and change scores at 1- to 2-year test-retest intervals. All dependent measures were "highly significant" when diagnostic groups were compared on null hypothesis significance testing analyses. In contrast, varied accuracy rates were obtained when each measure's ability to correctly classify individuals was evaluated relative to overall diagnostic accuracy. Odds ratios were also highly varied and ranged from < or = 1.0 (i.e., chance) to 34.9. The clinical usefulness of absolute scores and difference scores in data interpretation is supported. Neither profile variability measures nor measures of change over time were diagnostically useful.

Aged↗