Routinely-collected general practice data from the electronic patient record and general practitioner active electronic questioning method: a comparative study.
The numerous existing primary care-based research networks currently use various data collection methods. In this paper, we compared routine data extracted from general practitioners' (GPs') electronic patient records (EPRs) and GPs' answers to an electronic questionnaire. We investigated for 10,307 Belgian patients 10 healthcare conditions using clinical and biological parameters (cholesterol, blood pressure, and body mass index), diagnoses (hypertension, diabetes, and personal past cardiovascular event(s)), and drug prescriptions (antidiabetic drugs, aspirin, statins, and antihypertensive drugs). We found a relatively fair agreement (Kappa≥0.40) between the two data collection methods for 7 healthcare conditions, but no agreement for the biological parameters. When EPR data was used and compared with the questioning method, the prevalence of diagnoses and drug prescriptions was relatively lower and the prevalence of clinical and biological parameters was relatively higher (all missing data excluded) in the EPR data than in the data collected using the questioning method. Using EPR data, we calculated an acceptable proxy for the prevalence as observed using the questioning method. The comparison of the two data collection methods was a worthwhile approach, in that it could highlight potential ways to improve both care quality and information systems.
Institut de Recherche Santé et Société (IRSS), Université Catholique de Louvain, Brussels, Belgium.
Etienne
E
De Clercq
Sarah
S
Moreels
Nathalie
N
Bossuyt
Katrien
K
Vanthomme
Geert
G
Goderis
Viviane
V
Van Casteren
D001530:Belgium; D003625:Data Collection / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D057225:Data Mining / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D003955:Diagnostic Tests, Routine / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D057286:Electronic Health Records / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D058006:General Practice / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D058005:General Practitioners / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D055991:Health Records, Personal; D006801:Humans; D016247:Information Storage and Retrieval / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians' / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D014600:Utilization Review