title: Hospital in-patient statistics underestimate the morbidity associated with diabetes mellitus.
abstract: Hospital in-patient statistics are an important outcome measurement in the assessment of the morbidity associated with diabetes mellitus. A prospective study of 157 consecutive admissions over a 28-day period compared diagnoses obtained from the clinical records with the ICD9 coding of the same admissions recorded at the Information and Statistics Division of the Scottish Health Service. Sixty-one percent of all discharge summaries omitted the diagnosis of diabetes. Even when admission was principally related to diabetes complications, 47% of medical and 88% of surgical discharge summaries omitted diabetes as a diagnostic category. ICD9 coding underestimated the percentage of admissions accounted for by diabetic patients by 100% (2.8 vs 5.6%) and as a result underestimated bed occupancy by over 200% (4.3 vs 13.7%), and is thus failing to fulfil its potential as a demographic and epidemiological record of resource use by disease classification.
authors.affiliation: Department of Diabetes, Royal Infirmary, Edinburgh, Scotland.
authors.forename: P J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Leslie
authors.forename: A W
authors.initials: AW
authors.lastname: Patrick
authors.forename: D A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Hepburn
authors.forename: I J
authors.initials: IJ
authors.lastname: Scougal
authors.forename: B M
authors.initials: BM
authors.lastname: Frier
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001509:Bed Occupancy; D002648:Child; D003920:Diabetes Mellitus / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006801:Humans; D007297:Inpatients; D007902:Length of Stay; D008875:Middle Aged; D009017:Morbidity; D010351:Patient Discharge; D012606:Scotland / Q000453:epidemiology