Accuracy of a probabilistic record-linkage methodology used to track blood donors in the Mortality Information System database

Abstract

The probabilistic record linkage (PRL) is based on a likelihood score that measures the degree of similarity of several matching variables. Screening test results for different diseases are available for the blood donor population. In this paper, we describe the accuracy of a PRL process used to track blood donors from the Fundação Pró-Sangue (FPS) in the Mortality Information System (SIM), in order that future studies might determine the blood donor’s cause of death. The databases used for linkage were SIM and the database made up of individuals that were living (200 blood donors in 2007) and dead (196 from the Hospital das Clinicas de São Paulo that died in 2001–2005). The method consists of cleaning and linking the databases using three blocking steps comparing the variables “Name/Mother’s Name/ Date of Birth” to determine a cut-off score. For a cut-off score of 7.06, the sensitivity and specificity of the method is 94.4% (95%CI: 90.0–97.0) and 100% (95%CI: 98.0–100.0), respectively. This method can be used in studies that aim to track blood donors from the FPS database in SIM.

Mortality among blood donors seropositive and seronegative for Chagas disease (1996–2000) in São Paulo, Brazil: A death certificate linkage study

“…The RL procedure used here has been described in depth in a previous publication [17]. In this previous study, we assessed the RL methodology validity by assembling a list of blood donors with known vital status.…”

Hepatitis C among blood donors: cascade of care and predictors of loss to follow-up

“…The record linkage was performed using the Record Linkage III, a probabilistic linkage software specially developed to associate records considering the Portuguese language phonetics. Studies use this method aiming at tracking blood donors from the FPS in the SIM 6 .…”

Acurácia do relacionamento probabilístico de registros na identificação de óbitos em uma coorte de pacientes com insuficiência cardíaca descompensada

“…Os resultados estão entre os melhores descritos na literatura 6 (sensibilidade 74 a 98% e especificidade 99% a 100%) com sensibilidade superior a encontrada em outros estudos nacionais 7,10,11,12,13 .…”

“…Coutinho & Coeli 7 e Migowski et al 12 relacionaram quatro campos em cinco passos. Fonseca et al 11 , por sua vez, relacionou cinco campos em três passos. No presente estudo, foram relacionados seis campos em 14 passos de pareamento, o que pode ter contribuído para melhor sensibilidade da estratégia.…”

“…Coutinho et al 13 atribui a baixa sensibilidade encontrada em seu estudo, em parte, ao elevado percentual de registros sem informação no Sistema de Informações sobre Nascidos Vivos (SINASC). O presente estudo também difere dos estudos anteriores por ter empregado o software OpenRecLink, enquanto os demais artigos citados utilizaram o RecLink II 7,13,14 e III 10,11,12 .…”