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Birth Defects Surveillance in the United States: Challenges and Implications of International Classification of

Adel Mburia-Mwalili1, Wei Yang2

  • 1Environmental Sciences and Health Graduate Program, University of Nevada, Reno, NV 89557, USA.

International Scholarly Research Notices
|June 29, 2016
PubMed

Insights

Birth defects surveillance is crucial for public health, guiding prevention efforts and tracking trends. A key change in coding nomenclature from ICD-9-CM to ICD-10-CM in the USA will impact these vital surveillance activities.

Area of Science:

  • Public Health
  • Epidemiology
  • Medical Informatics

Background:

  • Major birth defects represent a significant public health concern, being the primary cause of infant mortality.
  • Congenital heart defects, neural tube defects, and Down syndrome are among the most prevalent birth defects.
  • Effective birth defect surveillance is essential for policy development, prevalence estimation, research, and prevention strategies.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To highlight the critical role of birth defects surveillance in the United States of America (USA).
  • To identify key factors influencing current surveillance practices.
  • To analyze the implications of the transition from ICD-9-CM to ICD-10-CM nomenclature on birth defect data.

Main Methods:

  • Review of factors influencing birth defect surveillance in the USA.
  • Analysis of the impact of changing coding nomenclature (ICD-9-CM to ICD-10-CM).
  • Discussion of implications for prevalence estimates and trend tracking.

Main Results:

  • Surveillance is influenced by case ascertainment, pregnancy outcomes, and coding nomenclature.
  • The shift to ICD-10-CM in 2015 will alter how birth defects are coded and tracked.
  • This change necessitates adaptation in surveillance systems to maintain data integrity.

Conclusions:

  • The transition to ICD-10-CM presents challenges and opportunities for birth defect surveillance in the USA.
  • Accurate tracking of birth defects trends and prevalence estimates will require careful management of this nomenclature change.
  • Adapting surveillance methods is crucial for continued public health efforts in birth defect prevention.

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