Review about the usage of probabilistic linkage in the Brazilian health area

To review the literature addressing methods, databases and software related to probabilistic record linkage usage in public health in Brazil, synthesized current information. The review included Brazilian studies in the health area in which the probabilistic record linkage was used. The 25 studies met the inclusion criteria (44 records), covering a range of research topics and a number of designs. The heterogeneity in reporting was an important limitation; furthermore descriptions of methods and privacy safeguards were often limited. The following matters were identified in these studies: duplicates within a single file; errors and missing data; inconsistency of values in fields. The record linkage enables healthcare researchers to take advantage of existing information and to make possible re-use of existing data for new studies and to reduce costs and effort in data acquisition.