Abstract:
The aim of this study was to identify first admissions in a public hospital discharge
file with the greatest possible accuracy. Computerised data linkage was used to link
injury events. This involved the use of “internal” data linkage (unduplication) which,
in data linkage terms, is equivalent to matching two identical files. Admission status
indicators obtained from deterministic and probabilistic linkages were compared with
those obtained from a manual review. Small absolute reductions in error were obtained
using a probabilistic linkage over a deterministic linkage. However, these reflected
large relative reductions in error. A validity check confirmed initial results and
discounted against possible bias due to the subjective nature of the probabilistic
linking procedure.
Keywords
Record Linkage - Unduplication - Hospital Admissions
