Data Consistency of Two National Registries in Iran: A Preliminary Assessment to Health Information Exchange

TL;DR

This study compares two Iranian health registries to see if they can share patient data, finding some consistency but many discrepancies.

Contribution

The paper provides a preliminary assessment of data consistency between two national health registries in Iran to support health information exchange.

Findings

18.6% of variables in NSCIR-IR were similar to NTRI in concept and structure.

Only two hospitals had common cases, with some variables like patient names and admission times being consistent.

Other shared data variables showed significant discrepancies, highlighting challenges for health information exchange.

Abstract

The National Spinal Cord Injury Registry of Iran (NSCIR-IR) and the National Trauma Registry of Iran (NTRI) were established to meet the data needs for research and assessing trauma status in Iran. These registries have a group of patients shared by both registries, and it is expected that some identical data will be collected about them. A general question arises whether the spinal cord injury registry can receive part of the common data from the trauma registry and not collect them independently.

We examined variables captured in both registries based on structure and concept, identified the overlapping period during which both systems recorded data in the same centers and extracted relevant data from both registries. Further, we evaluated the data for any discrepancies in amount or nature and pinpointed the underlying reasons for any inconsistencies.

Out of all the variables in the NSCIR-IR database, 18.6% of variables were similar to the NTRI in terms of concept and structure. Although four hospitals participated in both registries, only two (Sina and Beheshti Hospitals) had common cases. Patient names, prehospital intubation, ambulance arrival time, ICU length of stay, and admission time were consistent across both registries with no differences. Other common data variables had significant discrepancies.

This study highlights the potential for health information exchange (HIE) between NSCIR-IR and NTRI and serves as a starting point for stakeholders and policymakers to understand the differences between the two registries and work toward the successful adoption of HIE.