title: Value of ICD-9 coded chief complaints for detection of epidemics.
abstract: To assess the value of ICD-9 coded chief complaints for early detection of epidemics, we measured sensitivity, positive predictive value, and timeliness of Influenza detection using a respiratory set (RS) of ICD-9 codes and an Influenza set (IS). We also measured inherent timeliness of these data using the cross-correlation function. We found that, for a one-year period, the detectors had sensitivity of 100% (1/1 epidemic) and positive predictive values of 50% (1/2) for RS and 25% (1/4) for IS. The timeliness of detection using ICD-9 coded chief complaints was one week earlier than the detection using Pneumonia and Influenza deaths (the gold standard). The inherent timeliness of ICD-9 data measured by the cross-correlation function was two weeks earlier than the gold standard.
authors.affiliation: Center for Biomedical Informatics, University of Pittsburgh, USA.
authors.forename: F C
authors.initials: FC
authors.lastname: Tsui
authors.forename: M M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Wagner
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Dato
authors.forename: C C
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Chang
mesh_terms: D004194:Disease / Q000145:classification*; D004196:Disease Outbreaks; D006801:Humans; D011159:Population Surveillance / Q000379:methods*; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity