Author/Authors :
Frechette, Eric Division of Thoracic Surgery - Department of Surgery - Western University, London, Canada , Guidolin, Keegan Division of Thoracic Surgery - Department of Surgery - Western University, London, Canada , Seyam, Ayman Division of Thoracic Surgery - Department of Surgery - Western University, London, Canada , Choi, Yun-Hee Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics - Western University, London, Canada , Jones, Sarah Division of Pediatric Surgery - Department of Surgery - Western University, London, Canada , Andrew McClure, J. London Health Sciences Centre, London, Canada , Winick-Ng, Jennifer London Health Sciences Centre, London, Canada , Welk, Blayne Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics - Western University, London, Canada , Malthaner, Richard A. Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics - Western University, London, Canada
Abstract :
Introduction. Primary spontaneous pneumothorax (PSP) is a disorder commonly encountered in healthy young individuals. There
is no differentiation between PSP and secondary pneumothorax (SP) in the current version of the International Classification of
Diseases (ICD-10). This complicates the conduct of epidemiological studies on the subject. Objective. To validate the accuracy of
an algorithm that identifies cases of PSP from administrative databases. Methods. The charts of 150 patients who consulted the
emergency room (ER) with a recorded main diagnosis of pneumothorax were reviewed to define the type of pneumothorax that
occurred. The corresponding hospital administrative data collected during previous hospitalizations and ER visits were processed
through the proposed algorithm. The results were compared over two different age groups. Results. There were 144 cases of
pneumothorax correctly coded (96%). The results obtained from the PSP algorithm demonstrated a significantly higher sensitivity
(97% versus 81%, 𝑝 = 0.038) and positive predictive value (87% versus 46%, 𝑝 < 0.001) in patients under 40 years of age than in
older patients. Conclusions. The proposed algorithm is adequate to identify cases of PSP from administrative databases in the age
group classically associated with the disease. This makes possible its utilization in large population-based studies.
Keywords :
Validation Study , Administrative Databases , Primary Spontaneous Pneumothorax , Identifying
