title: A Comparison of Administrative Data Versus Surveillance Data for Hospital-Associated Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus Infections in Canadian Hospitals.
abstract: BACKGROUND In Canadian hospitals, clinical information is coded according to national coding standards and is routinely collected as administrative data. Administrative data may complement active surveillance programs by providing in-hospital MRSA infection data in a standardized and efficient manner, but only if infections are accurately captured. OBJECTIVE To assess the accuracy of administrative data regarding in-hospital bloodstream infections (BSIs) and all-body-site infections due to MRSA. METHODS A retrospective study of all (adult and pediatric) in-hospital MRSA infections was conducted by comparing administrative data against surveillance data from 217 acute Canadian hospitals (124 in Ontario, 93 in Alberta) over a 12-month period. Hospital-associated MRSA BSI cases in Ontario, and for all-body-site MRSA infections in Alberta were identified. Pearson correlation coefficients were used to compare the number of hospital-level MRSA cases within administrative versus surveillance datasets. The correlation of all-body-site MRSA infections versus MRSA BSIs was also assessed using the Ontario administrative data. RESULTS Strong correlations between hospital-level MRSA cases in administrative and surveillance datasets were identified for Ontario (r=0.79; 95% CI, 0.72-0.85) and Alberta (r=0.92; 95% CI, 0.88-0.94). A strong correlation between all-body-site and bloodstream-only MRSA infection rates was identified across Ontario hospitals (r=0.95; P<.0001; 95% CI, 0.93-0.96). CONCLUSIONS This study provides good evidence of the comparability of administrative and surveillance datasets in identifying in-hospital MRSA infections. With standard definitions, administrative data can provide estimates of in-hospital infections for monitoring and/or comparisons across hospitals. Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol 2017;38:436-443.
authors.affiliation: 1Canadian Institute of Health Information,Toronto,Ontario,Canada.
authors.forename: Jessica Y
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Ramirez Mendoza
authors.affiliation: 2Division of Infectious Diseases,Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre,Toronto,Ontario,Canada.
authors.forename: Nick
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Daneman
authors.affiliation: 1Canadian Institute of Health Information,Toronto,Ontario,Canada.
authors.forename: Mary N
authors.initials: MN
authors.lastname: Elias
authors.affiliation: 1Canadian Institute of Health Information,Toronto,Ontario,Canada.
authors.forename: Joseph E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Amuah
authors.affiliation: 4Alberta Health Services Infection Prevention and Control,Calgary,Canada.
authors.forename: Kathryn
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Bush
authors.affiliation: 1Canadian Institute of Health Information,Toronto,Ontario,Canada.
authors.forename: Chantal M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Couris
authors.affiliation: 1Canadian Institute of Health Information,Toronto,Ontario,Canada.
authors.forename: Kira
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Leeb
mesh_terms: D000416:Alberta / Q000453:epidemiology; D016470:Bacteremia / Q000453:epidemiology*; D003428:Cross Infection / Q000453:epidemiology*; D000068598:Data Accuracy; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D006761:Hospitals / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D008499:Medical Records / Q000592:standards*; D055624:Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus; D009864:Ontario / Q000453:epidemiology; D011159:Population Surveillance / Q000379:methods*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013203:Staphylococcal Infections / Q000453:epidemiology*