A comparison of diagnosis capture from medical records, self-reports, and drug registrations: a study in individuals 80 years and older.
OBJECTIVE
Reports of diseases and health problems vary as a function of the information source. In the present study we compared the capture of information on morbidity using medical records, self-reports, and drug registrations.


METHODS
A concurrent review of medical records, self-reports, and registration of marker drugs was conducted to determine diagnosis for 44 common diseases. Diagnoses from the various sources were uniformly classified according to ICD-10. The study included a sample of 702 individuals, aged 80 and older, enrolled in population-based longitudinal studies.


RESULTS
The morbidity rates differed considerably across the used sources. Although medical records captured most of the morbidity, self-reports offered supplemental information especially for less objective health problems. Marker drugs typically confirmed information in the records, but only for a limited number of diseases.


CONCLUSIONS
In studies of aging and health, a thorough review of medical records and a concurrent evaluation of self-reports and marker drugs represent a valuable strategy for portraying morbidity. This strategy goes beyond the use of a single source like self-reports, and provides better estimates of health conditions in the elderly.
Nilsson
Sven E
SE
Institute of Gerontology, University College of Health Sciences, Jönköping, Sweden. gero@hhj.hj.se
Johansson
Boo
B
Berg
Stig
S
Karlsson
David
D
McClearn
Gerald E
GE
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging; D002908:Chronic Disease / Q000401:mortality; D003625:Data Collection / Q000379:methods*; D004358:Drug Therapy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008499:Medical Records; D009017:Morbidity; D012042:Registries