Accuracy of angina pectoris and acute coronary syndrome in the Danish National Patient Register

作者：Bork Christian Sorensen^*; Al Zuhairi Karam Sadoon; Hansen Steen Moller; Delekta Joanna; Joensen Albert Marni

来源：Danish Medical Journal, 2017, 64(5): A5369.

INTRODUCTION: The Danish National Patient Register is widely used for research and administrative purposes. However, its usability is highly dependent of the validity of the registered data. We therefore aimed to determine the positive predictive value (PPV) of angina pectoris and acute coronary syndrome (ACS) in the Danish National Patient Register.
METHODS: We selected a random sample of 500 patients registered with angina pectoris and a random sample of 500 patients registered with ACS among all hospitalisations at any department in Northern Denmark between 1 January 2007 and 31 December 2007. We reviewed the medical records of the sample patients and recorded whether the angina pectoris and the ACS diagnoses were valid based on the European Society of Cardiology criteria.
RESULTS: The PPV of definite and probable angina pectoris was 45.9% (95% confidence interval (CI): 41.3-50.6%), whereas the PPV of verified ACS was 86.6% (95% CI: 83.3-89.5%). Stratification by hospital department revealed significantly higher PPVs for diagnoses received in a cardiology unit for both angina pectoris (61.7%; 95% CI: 53.4-69.6%) and ACS (95.5%; 95% CI: 91.3-98.0%). Stratification by gender showed a significantly higher PPV among men registered with angina pectoris (51.2%; 95% CI: 45.3-57.1%).
CONCLUSIONS: The angina pectoris and ACS data contained in the DNPR should be used with caution in register studies if validation is not possible. Restricting analyses of ACS data to patients discharged from cardiology wards may be a useful option in register-based studies.

• 出版日期2017-5