Registry

Type of Study

Data are collected on an annual basis.

Data gathering method

Registries

Conditions of access

Data linkage is allowed provided that the researcher has received permission from the authorities (THL).

Register data

SAS

Data are collected on an annual basis.

2011

National Discharge Register contain key inpatient and outpatient data abstractions from the operative systems in hospitals (length of stay, Dx, procedures, etc.), patient (age, gender etc.) and medical data (main and secondary diagnoses, selected treatments) and is basically a Minimum Basic Dataset. Data is available on ·         anonymised patient level data per hospital stay (sex, age, place of residence, #days of hospitalisation) ·         medical data on hospital stay (major and additional diagnoses according to ICD-10 standards, procedures/treatments) ·         points awarded per hospital stay based on DRG system ·         DRG codes per hospital

Individual level data can be linked using the unique and national personal identification code. However, linkage requires substantial justification on behalf of researchers due to data protection protocols.

The data quality has been considered good or satisfactory. The National Discharge Register has been a subject of several published data quality evaluations.

The data quality has been considered good or satisfactory. The National Discharge Register has been a subject of several published data quality evaluations.

The data quality has been considered good or satisfactory. The National Discharge Register has been a subject of several published data quality evaluations.

National Discharge Register is the most comprehensive database on inpatient care in Finland. It contains data routinely collected from all hospitals and other institutions producing inpatient health care. Secondary level outpatient care can be found in the Hospital Benchmarking Database which has a separate description. Each data item refers to one hospital stay. Whether one patient is hospitalised n times per quarter or whether n patients are hospitalised once can be easily distinguished.  Linkage possibilities to other national registers using the unique personal identification is a major strength. However, the data contents in the minimum data set are fairly limited. Clinical parameters, health behaviour data and other crucial risk adjustments/outcomes measures (e.g. QoL data) are missing.