An evaluation of the completeness of tuberculosis case reporting using hospital billing and laboratory data; Wisconsin, 1995.

PURPOSE

The study assesses the completeness of tuberculosis disease (TB) reporting in Wisconsin and evaluates the usefulness of laboratory and hospital discharge data as supplemental case ascertainment sources.

METHODS

All 1995 hospital billing records with a discharge diagnosis code of TB (ICD-9 CM 010-018) were retrieved and matched to Wisconsin TB registry records. A hospital discharge summary was obtained for persons not in the registry to verify the TB diagnosis. A list of persons with specimens from which Mycobacterium tuberculosis was isolated in 1995 was requested from all Wisconsin and pertinent out-of-state laboratories and compared with the TB registry.

RESULTS

Of the 88 TB cases identified from laboratory lists, one (1.1%) was unreported. Of the 51 TB cases identified from hospital discharge records, one (2.0%) was unreported. The positive predictive values of laboratory and hospital discharge data for a verified TB case were 98.9% and 38.3%, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

In Wisconsin during 1995, nearly all TB cases among hospitalized persons or persons from whom M. tuberculosis was isolated were reported. Most persons having a TB diagnosis code did not have TB.