Common Quality Issues with Revised Birth Certificate Data David Justice Data Acquisition and Evaluation Branch Division of Vital Statistics, NCHS

2007: The Scales Tipped

Median Reporting Lag

Infant Death Underreporting  New item “Infant Alive at Time of Report”  If response is “NO” then a matching infant death record should be identified  March 2006 – Article in DVS newsletter  July 2006 – Presentation at VSCP Meeting

Infant Death Underreporting  January 2007 – DAEB sent “Infant Alive” reports to 2005 birth revisers  March 2007 – DAEB sent “Infant Alive” reports to all 2006 revisers  April 2007 – Article sent by Charlie Rothwell  May 2007 – DAEB sent < 500g reports to non-revisers

Infant Death Underreporting  Positive response to reports from DAEB  Identify infant deaths that have not been reported or linked  Identify birth records where “Infant Alive” is reported incorrectly  Identify birth records that should have been reported as a fetal death

Data Quality Issues  Out of range values and inconsistencies  State system not adhering to specs  State specs different from NCHS specs  NCHS specs not detailed enough  Some problems not identifiable on an individual record basis

Data Quality Issues 1APGAR SCORE AT 10 MINUTES  Depends on Apgar at 5 Minutes  Only if Apgar at 5 Minutes is < 6  Code ’88’ is used when Apgar at 5 minutes is

Data Quality Issues 2HISPANIC ORIGIN OF FATHER  Unknown level inconsistent with other father’s information (race, education, dob)  Defaulting to ‘NNNN’ when unmarried instead of ‘UUUU’

Data Quality Issues 3INVALID FIPS CODES  Blanks are invalid  Use ZZ for country or state  Use 999 for county  Use for place

Data Quality Issues 4METHOD OF DELIVERY – Attempted Forceps, Vacuum  Vs. Final Route and Method of Delivery = Forceps, Vacuum  Forceps/Vacuum should be reported in only one place

Data Quality Issues 5RISK FACTOR – Previous C-Section  Bad combinations with # of C-sections:  Yes, 00  No, 99 or reported number  Unknown, 00 or reported number

Data Quality Issues 6 RISK FACTOR – Infertility Treatment  Subcategories added end of 2003  If infertility treatment = Y then report Y, N or U for subcategories  Otherwise, subcategories X or U

Data Quality Issues 7 MONTH DEFAULTS ON DATES  Other Pregnancy Outcome  Last Live Birth  First Prenatal Care Visit  Month reported as 01 instead of 99 when unknown month

Data Quality Issues 8 OUTLYING VALID VALUES  Mother’s Height in Feet (1,2,7,8)  Plurality (>6)

Not Classifiable Levels  Contract Standards  Reviser Levels are being monitored  Available on VSCP Website  2007 levels have been added  Some items with 0 unknowns?

Facility Reports  All states are submitting facility codes on the revised file  2005 Joint presentation by NCHS and N.Y. State  NCHS can produce reports by facility for any values, particularly unknowns

Void Flags  Void Lists not required if void flag used properly  Not used by all revised states  Annual Final Void List still required

2008 Documentation  Deliverable each Fall – plan to request a full set from all States in 2008  Include certificates, worksheets, and system documentation – useful for 1st time revisers  NCHS would like to review drafts in advance

Questions or Concerns? DAEB Statistician or Vital Statistics Specialist David Justice DVS/DAEB Research Triangle Park, NC