Evaluation of a regional trauma registry

Area of Science:

• Trauma Care Research
• Health Informatics
• Epidemiology

Background:

• Trauma registries are crucial for resource allocation, quality improvement, and research in trauma care.
• Data quality and completeness in trauma registries are often underreported.
• This study assessed the Calgary component of the Alberta Trauma Registry (ATR) for an upcoming population-based severe trauma epidemiology research program.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the data quality and completeness of the Calgary component of the Alberta Trauma Registry (ATR).
• To determine the reliability of ATR data for administrative and research purposes.

Main Methods:

• Identified adult trauma patients (age > or = 16) with severe injuries (Injury Severity Score > or = 12) admitted to the Calgary Health Region between April 1, 2001, and March 31, 2002.
• Randomly selected 100 patient records from the ATR.
• Compared 14 data fields per record, from prehospital care to discharge, against information in the hospital chart.

Main Results:

• A 99% data completion rate was observed across approximately 1400 assessed fields (only 9 missing).
• Only 9 out of 100 records had incomplete data, with no record missing more than one field.
• The overall accuracy of the ATR was 98%, with 22 records containing inaccuracies, mostly involving a single incorrect field.

Conclusions:

• The Calgary component of the ATR demonstrates high accuracy and completeness.
• Minor inaccuracies were linked to changes in recording practices for 'time to operating room'.
• Standardized data fields in the ATR can be reliably used for administrative and research applications.