       Document 0715
 DOCN  M9640715
 TI    Completeness of AIDS reporting and quality of AIDS death certification
       in Tuscany (Italy): a linkage study between surveillance system of cases
       and death certificates.
 DT    9604
 AU    Barchielli A; Buiatti E; Galanti C; Giovannetti L; Acciai S; Lazzeri V;
       Epidemiology Unit, Centre for Study and Prevention of Cancer,; Florence,
       Italy.
 SO    Eur J Epidemiol. 1995 Oct;11(5):513-7. Unique Identifier : AIDSLINE
       MED/96139644
 AB    In Italy, the AIDS cases defined according to the CDC criteria are
       reported to the National AIDS Registry (RAIDS, compulsory surveillance
       system). The aim of the present study is to evaluate the completeness of
       AIDS cases reported and the quality of AIDS death certification in an
       Italian Region (Tuscany, about 3,500,000 inhabitants). The 737 AIDS
       cases reported to RAIDS as residents in Tuscany (1987-91) were
       cross-linked (key link: name and date of birth) with the data of the
       Mortality Registration system of the Region (RMR). For the residents in
       Tuscany decreased with a 279.1 death diagnosis (the code for AIDS deaths
       stated by the Italian Census Bureau) and not reported to RAIDS as AIDS
       cases, the clinical records were reviewed to check whether the diagnosis
       fitted the 1987-CDC diagnostic criteria. This study shows that there is
       a high completeness (97-98%) of the AIDS cases resident in Tuscany,
       reported to the RAIDS. The quality of RAIDS data is not as good with
       regard to life status assessment (23% of under-reporting of death). In
       Tuscany, the death certification for AIDS (code 279.1 of ICD IX) has a
       sensitivity of 88% and a specificity around 100% in comparison to RAIDS.
       About 50% of 'false negatives' in death certification are due to causes
       of death presumably unrelated to HIV infection. The evaluation of the
       quality of AIDS surveillance and mortality data is important in the
       assessment of the impact for AIDS epidemic in a target population.
 DE    Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome/*EPIDEMIOLOGY/*MORTALITY  *Death
       Certificates  Disease Notification  Female  Forms and Records Control
       Hospital Records  Human  HIV Infections/EPIDEMIOLOGY/MORTALITY
       Information Systems  Italy/EPIDEMIOLOGY  Male  Medical Record Linkage
       *Population Surveillance  Quality Control  *Registries  Sensitivity and
       Specificity  Support, Non-U.S. Gov't  JOURNAL ARTICLE

       SOURCE: National Library of Medicine.  NOTICE: This material may be
       protected by Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.Code).

